THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


Born  /'rt.  22 1732Mhrck  4.1789.  OHJkc.24.1799A.68. 


THE 

TRUE  AMERICAN; 

CONTAINING   THE   PORTRAITS   OF 

WASHINGTON,  ADAMS,  AND  JEFFERSON, 

WITH    A   SKETCH    OF 

THEIR  LIVES  AND  POLITICAL  CHARACTERS ; 

TOGETHER   WITH 

ALL  THEIR  MESSAGES, 

EXCEPTING    THOSE    ALREADY    PUBLISHED    IN    THE 
FIRST    VOLUME    OF    THIS    WORK  J 

JACKSON'S 
PROCLAMATION    AND    NULLIFICATION  MESSAGE; 

AN   ADDRESS 

TO    THE 

YOUNG  MEN  AND  PEOPLE  OP  AMEEICA, 

AND 

A  VA.JETT  OF  OTHER  MATTER  USEFUL  AND  ENTERTAINING. 


EDITED  BY  JOSEPH  COE. 
U 

VOL.  n. 


CONCORD,    N.  H. 

MORRILL,   SILSBY,   &  CO. 

1841. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1841, 

By  JOSEPH  COE, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  New  Hampshii 


STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED   BY 
MORRILL,    SILSBY,  &  CO.   CONCORD,  If.  H. 


PREFACE. 


THE  present  is  a  time  which  must  force  people 
to  serious  reflection  on  the  prospect  of  the  country  ; 
and  it  therefore  seems  proper  to  recur  to  first  princi 
ples,  to  go  back  and  examine  the  views  entertained 
and  principles  contended  for  by  those  whom  the 
republic  has  ever  delighted  to  honor. 

The  recent  triumph  of  the  whig  party  has  re 
vived  systems  and  measures  which,  for  nearly  half 
a  century,  had  been  repudiated  by  the  democracy 
as  unsafe,  unsound,  inimical  to  liberty,  and  destruc 
tive  of  the  best  interests  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
people.  The  creation  of  a  national  debt  ;  a  na 
tional  bank  ;  increased  taxation,  by  enhancing  the 
tariff,  not  for  the  necessary  purposes  of  revenue, 
nor  yet  for  protection,  but  for  distribution  among 
the  states  in  the  shape  of  the  proceeds  of  the  pub 
lic  lands  ;  a  wanton  profuseness  and  extravagance 
in  the  expenditure  of  the  public  money,  exhausting 
the  treasury  for  the  benefit  of  partisans  and  de 
pendents,  thus  rendering  it  necessary  to  replenish 
it  by  loans  and  the  imposition  of  new  taxes  on 
industry  and  the  necessaries  of  life  ;  these  all  are 
measures  so  wide  in  their  influence,  and  so  impor 
tant  in  their  consequences,  that  their  adoption  and 
prosecution  by  the  party  in  power  cannot  fail  to 
awaken  the  whole  community  to  deep  and  solemn 
thought.  They  are  that  system  of  measures  which 
Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Jackson  so  powerfully  and 
successfully  resisted* 


IV  PREFACE. 

The  overthrow  of  our  republic  cannot  be  effect 
ed  openly  by  means  professedly  adopted  for  such  a 
purpose.  The  love  of  liberty  glows  yet  too  brightly 
in  the  hearts  of  the  great  mass  of  our  citizens,  to 
render  any  open  and  avowed  attacks  upon  it  either 
politic  or  safe.  The  result  will  be  brought  about 
by  subtle  measures,  the  tendency  of  which  is  not 
seen  till  it  is  too  late,  by  professions  of  attachment 
to  democracy,  by  a  liberal  use  of  popular  catch 
words  and  phrases,  which  shall  tend  to  throw  honest 
and  confiding  citizens  off  their  guard.  Enemies  of 
liberty  will  assume  the  guise  and  imitate  the  speech 
of  its  friends.  Their  measures  are  all  professedly 
proposed  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  and  the  hope 
is  entertained  that  the  people  may  be  made  to  adopt 
them,  and  thus,  as  it  were,  to  place  the  yoke  on 
their  own  necks,  and  the  chain  upon  their  own 
limbs.  The  fate  of  all  past  republics  is  before  us, 
and  full  of  warning  and  instruction.  If  we  will 
but  listen,  they  tell  us  that  the  price  of  liberty  is 
eternal  vigilance ;  when  our  industrious  laborers, 
skilful  mechanics,  and  enterprising  traders  find  it, 
or  fancy  they  find  it,  necessary  to  take  sides  with 
the  enemies  of  liberty  against  their  country  for  the 
promotion  of  their  own  personal  interest.  We  may 
then  rest  assured  that  no  ordinary  danger  is  ahead. 

Our  fathers  did  riot  wait  till  the  tyrant  had  con 
summated  his  work  ;  they  stood  firm,  incorrupti 
ble,  inflexible  in  their  purposes,  and  strong  in  their 
love  of  liberty,  and  ready  and  willing  to  stake 
honor,  fortune,  and  life  for  its  possession.  Without 
similar  firmness,  incorruptibility,  and  inflexibility 
of  purpose,  we  shall  fail  to  preserve  it  for  ourselves, 
much  more  to  transmit  it  as  an  inheritance  for  our 
children. 

The  portion  of  the  community  on  whom  we 
must  in  the  main  rely  to  fight  the  battles  of  free- 


PREFACE.  V 

dom,  and  prolong  the  life  of  the  republic,  are  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil,  mechanics,  the  producing 
classes  of  the  community.  These  are  the  bone 
and  muscle  of  the  country.  The  fate  of  our  in 
stitutions  is  mainly  in  their  hands ;  and  to  them 
the  Editor  makes  his  appeal,  entreating  them  to  be 
on  their  guard,  to  keep  their  lights  burning,  their 
sentinels  posted  and  on  the  look  out,  ready  to  give 
warning  on  the  approach  of  danger,  that  they  may 
not  become  entangled  by  the  arts  of  the  enemy,  or 
crushed  by  his  machinery  ;  believing,  as  the  Editor 
does,  that  the  natural  tendency  of  the  leading  poli 
cy  of  the  party  now  in  power  is  ruinous  to  the 
permanency  of  our  free  institutions.  He  is  indu 
ced  to  continue  the  publication  of  the  True  Ameri 
can,  and  to  spread  before  his  countrymen  the  doc 
trines  and  warnings  of  the  great,  the  wise,  and  the 
good,  who  were  distinguished  for  their  patriotism, 
their  private  worth  and  public  virtues,  and  whose 
best  energies  and  whole  lives  were  devoted  to  the 
defence  of  republican  freedom.  The  documents 
he  has  collected  and  publishes,  will  serve  as  a  sort 
of  chart  of  onr  political  coast,  which  may  warn  the 
navigators  of  the  ship  of  state  of  the  rocks,  shoals, 
and  quicksands  they  must  study  to  avoid,  and  point 
them  to  the  only  sure  channel  through  which  they 
can  enter  the  harbor,  and  anchor  in  safety. 

In  conclusion  he  would  say,  that  though  the 
enemies  of  liberty  are  now  in  power,  he  still  con 
fides  in  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the  great 
body  of  the  American  people,  and  fears  not  but 
through  an  overruling  Providence  the  republic  will 
yet  be  preserved. 

Durham,  July  27,  1841. 


VOL.  II. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
Life  of  George  Washington, 7 

Washington's  Second  Annual  Address, 16 

Third  Annual  Address, 20 

Fourth  Annual  Address, 26 

Fifth  Annual  Address, 33 

Special  Message,  Dec.  5,  1793, 38 

Sixth  Annual  Address 41 

Seventh  Annual  Address, 49 

Eighth  Annual  Address, 55 

Proclamation,  April  22,  1793, 63 

Proclamation,  August  7,  1 794, 64 

Proclamation,  Sept.  25,  1794, 68 

Special  Message,  March  30,  1796, 70 

Life  of  John  Adams, 73 

Adams'  Special  Session  Message, 77 

Special  Message,  Feb.  5,  1798, 86 

Special  Message,  March  19,  1798, 87 

Second  Annual  Address, 89 

Third  Annual  Address, 95 

Special  Message,  Dec.  23,  1799, 99 

Special  Message,  Jan.  8,  1800, 101 

Fourth  Annual  Address, 102 

Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 107 

Jefferson's  Second  Annual  Message, 133 

Special  Message,  Jan.  28,  1802, 139 

Third  Annual  Message, 140 

Special  Message,  Nov.  4,  1803, 147 

Special  Message,  Dec.  5,  1803, 148 

Fourth  Annual  Message, 149 

Fifth  Annual  Message, 155 

Special  Message,  Jan.  13,  1806, 163 

Special  Message,  Jan.  17,  1806, 166 

Special  Message,  March  20,  1806, 167 

Sixth  Annual  Message,  168 

Special  Message,  Dec.  3,  1806, 176 

Special  Message,  Jan.  22,  1807, 177 

Special  Message,  Feb.  10,  1807, 184 

Seventh  Annual  Message, 187 

Special  Message,  Dec.  18,  1807, 194 

Special  Message,  Feb.  8,  1808, 195 

Special  Message,  Feb.  9,  1808 195 

Special  Message,  March  22,  1808, 196 

Eighth  Annual  Message, 198 

Jackson's  Nullification  Proclamation, 206 

Nullification  Message, 229 

An  Address  to  the  Young  Men  and  People  of  America, 260 

The  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions  of  1798, 287 

Independent  Treasury  Law, 303 

Mr.  Woodbury's  Speech  on  Repeal  of  do 316 

Duties  of  American  Citizens,  by  Hon.  Levi  Woodbury, 336 

Gov.  Morton's  Inaugural  Speech 343 

Address  of  the  Democratic  Members  of  the  Legislature  of  N.  Y.,  ..376 
Democracy, 396 


THE 


TRUE    AMERICAN 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  the  first  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  most  illustrious  among  the  champions  of 
their  independence,  was  the  son  of  Augustine  Washing 
ton,  a  respectable  planter  in  Virginia,  and  the  descend 
ant  of  John  Washington,  who,  at  an  early  period,  held 
an  important  command  against  the  Indians,  with  the 
rank  of  colonel.  The  future  statesman  and  hero  was 
born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  on  the  22d  of 
February,  1732;  but  his  father,  not  long  afterwards,  re 
moved  to  an  estate  in  Strafford  county,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Rappahannoc.  He  died  when  George  was  only 
eleven  years  of  age,  leaving,  as  the  fruit  of  his  industry 
and  enterprise,  a  large  landed  estate  to  be  divided  among 
his  family. 

Under  the  guidance  of  an  excellent  mother,  and  the 
instructions  of  the  teacher  of  a  common  school,  he  ac 
quired  the  first  rudiments  of  a  useful,  though  far  from 
liberal  education.  His  military  propensities  exhibited 
themselves  even  in  his  boyhood.  By  taking  the  lead  in 
the  mock  parades  and  mimic  battles  of  his  school-fellows, 
he  made  the  same  qualities  conduce  to  their  amusement, 
which  thirty  years  afterwards,  when  fully  developed,  con- 


8  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tributed  so  largely  to  the  salvation  of  his  country.  Fond 
of  athletic  sports,  he  was  still  distinguished  by  such  a 
degree  of  probity  and  discretion  as  uniformly  command 
ed  the  deference  of  his  youthful  associates.  In  nume 
rous  instances  he  was  the  arbiter  of  their  disputes,  and 
seldom  was  an  appeal  taken  from  his  judgment.  He  left 
school  in  the  autumn  preceding  his  sixteenth  year,  hav 
ing  devoted  the  two  last  years  to  geometry,  trigonometry, 
and  surveying — studies  to  which  his  attention  was  di 
rected  alike  by  his  own  inclination  and  the  wishes  of  his 
friends.  The  profession  of  a  surveyor  was  then  a  lucra 
tive  employment,  while  the  laborious  excursions  it  ren 
dered  necessary  into  wilds  which  have  long  since  given 
place  to  flourishing  settlements,  were  well  suited  to  his 
hardy  and  enterprising  character. 

Through  the  influence  of  his  elder  brother,  Lawrence 
Washington,  he  received  in  1746,  while  yet  at  school,  a 
midshipman's  warrant  under  Admiral  Vernon.  Though 
this  appointment  was  grateful  to  his  feelings,  and  afforded 
him  splendid  prospects  of  preferment,  he  yielded  to  the 
solicitations  of  his  mother,  and,  fortunately  for  himself 
and  his  country,  declined  its  acceptance. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  was  employed  by  Lord 
Fairfax  to  survey  the  immense  tracts  of  wild  lands  be 
longing  to  that  nobleman,  in  the  rich  valleys  bordering 
upon  the  Allegany  Mountains.  The  enterprise  was  ardu 
ous  in  its  character,  and  was  conducted  with  a  degree  of 
energy  which  added  not  a  little  to  the  reputation  of  young 
Washington. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  when  the  threatening  move 
ments  of  Indian  hordes  and  French  adventurers  on  the 
frontiers,  rendered  extensive  preparations  necessary  for 
the  public  defence,  he  was  appointed  adjutant-general  of 
one  of  the  military  districts  of  his  native  state.  He  en- 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON.  9 

tered  at  once,  and  with  equal  zeal,  upon  the  study  of 
military  science  and  the  discharge  of  the  important  du 
ties  of  his  office,  and  by  his  good  conduct  fast  prepared 
for  himself  the  way  to  still  higher  honors.  In  1753,  we 
find  him  treading  his  way  from  Williamsburg,  then  the 
seat  of  government  in  Virginia,  to  the  French  posts  on 
the  Ohio  River,  as  a  commissioner  to  inquire  of  the 
French  what  were  their  designs,  and  ascertain  at  once 
their  numbers,  the  extent  of  their  military  preparations, 
and  the  disposition  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  their  vicinity. 
This  route,  of  more  than  five  hundred  and  sixty  miles, 
crossing  rugged  mountains,  and  passing  more  than  half 
the  distance  through  an  unbroken  wilderness  thronged 
with  savage  enemies,  he  accomplished  in  company  with 
only  seven  attendants.  The  information  which  he  brought 
with  him  on  his  return,  left  no  doubt  of  the  hostile  in 
tentions  of  the  French,  and,  as  a  reward  for  his  services, 
he  was,  in  1754,  appointed  colonel  of  a  regiment  raised 
to  operate  against  them.  His  period  of  service  was 
short,  but  brilliant,  and  closed  on  the  9th  of  July,  1755, 
with  the  sanguinary  battle  of  Fort  Du  Quesne.  During 
that  battle,  so  hot  was  the  conflict  that  Washington,  to 
use  nearly  his  own  words,  "  had  four  bullets  through  his 
coat,  and  two  horses  shot  under  him,  and  yet  escaped 
unhurt."  An  Indian  warrior,  who  acted  a  conspicuous 
part  in  that  tragedy,  was  heard  to  say,  long  after  the  bat 
tle,  that  "  Washington  was  never  born  to  be  killed  by  a 
bullet ;  for,"  continued  he,  "  I  had  seventeen  fair  fires  at 
him  with  my  rifle,  and  after  all  could  not  bring  him  to 
the  ground." 

Soon  after  the  close  of  this  short  but  brilliant  period 
of  military  service,  he  married  Mrs.  Martha  Custis,  a 
young  widow  lady  of  large  fortune  and  superior  accom 
plishments.  He  then  retired  to  the  family  residence  at 


10  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Mount  Vernon,  which  had  descended  to  him  upon  the 
death  of  his  elder  brother,  Lawrence.  He  devoted  him 
self  at  once  with  great  zeal  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
nearly  a  thousand  persons  were  at  this  time  employed 
upon  his  extensive  estates.  In  1759,  he  was  elected  to 
the  House  of  Burgesses  in  Virginia,  and  retained  his 
seat  in  that  body  till  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  It  was  about  the  time  that  he  first  took  his  seat  in 
this  body,  that  a  circumstance  occurred  which  Mr.  Wirt 
has  described  in  the  following  graphic  language.  "  By 
the  vote  of  the  house,  the  Speaker,  Mr.  Robinson,  was 
directed  to  return  their  thanks  to  Col.  Washington,  on 
behalf  of  the  colony,  for  the  distinguished  military  ser 
vices  which  he  had  rendered  to  his  country.  As  soon  as 
Col.  Washington  took  his  seat,  Mr.  Robinson,  in  obedi 
ence  to  this  order,  and  following  the  impulse  of  his  own 
generous  and  grateful  heart,  discharged  the  duty  with 
great  dignity,  but  with  such  warmth  of  coloring  and 
strength  of  expression,  as  entirely  confounded  the  young 
hero.  He  rose  to  express  his  acknowledgments  for  the 
honor  ;  but  such  was  his  trepidation  and  confusion,  that  he 
could  not  give  distinct  utterance  to  a  single  syllable.  He 
blushed,  stammered  and  trembled  for  a  second  ;  when  the 
Speaker  relieved  him  by  a  stroke  of  address  that  would 
have  done  honor  to  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  in  his  proud 
est  and  happiest  moment.  '  Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington,' 
said  he,  with  a  conciliating  smile  ;  '  your  modesty  equals 
your  valor  :  and  that  surpasses  the  power  of  any  language 
that  I  possess.'  " 

In  1774,  Washington  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
first  American  Congress,  and  took  a  conspicuous  part  in 
its  deliberations.  In  that  body  he  was  deservedly  held  in 
the  highest  estimation.  Soon  after  its  first  session^  Pa 
trick  Henry,  being  asked  whom  he  thought  the  greatest 


LIFE    OP    WASHINGTON.  11 

man  in  Congress,  replied,  "  If  you  speak  of  eloquence, 
Mr.  Rutledge,  of  South  Carolina,  is  by  far  the  greatest 
orator  ;  but,  if  you  speak  of  solid  information  and  sound 
judgment,  Col.  Washington  is  unquestionably  the  greatest 
man  on  that  floor." 

On  the  loth  of  June,  1775,  the  "  clash  of  resounding 
arms"  having  already  been  heard  on  the  plains  of  Lex 
ington,  and  the  British  troops  in  Boston  having  been  sur 
rounded  by  an  army  of  American  patriots,  fresh  from 
the  labors  of  the  field  and  the  workshops,  GEORGE  WASH 
INGTON  was  elected  by  a  unanimous  vote,  commander- 
in-chief  of  all  the  armies,  raised  or  to  be  raised,  for  the 
defence  of  the  liberties  of  his  countrymen.  At  the  same 
time  that  they  gave  him  this  distinguished  appointment, 
Congress  voted  him  a  monthly  compensation  of  five  hun 
dred  dollars.  This  sum  he  nobly  refused,  declining  all 
compensation  beyond  his  actual  expenditures  in  the  public 
service.  It  is  to  this  circumstance  Lord  Byron  alludes 
in  the  following  lines  : 

"  Great  men  have  always  scorned  great  recompenses ; 

Epaminondas  saved  his  Thebes,  and  died, 
Nor  leaving  even  his  funeral  expenses  : 

George  Washington  had  thanks  and  nought  beside, 
Except  the  all-cloudless  glory  (which  few  men's  is,) 
To  free  his  country." 

Expressing  a  modest  diffidence  in  his  abilities,  he  ac 
cepted  the  commission,  repaired  to  Cambridge,  and  took 
the  command  of  the  American  forces.  From  this  period, 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  a  long,  bloody,  but  glorious 
struggle  for  independence,  the  genius  of  Washington  was 
the  presiding  spirit  which  directed  the  contest.  Patient, 
prudent,  and  yet  unintimidated  by  the  greatest  dangers, 
he  engaged  in  no  desperate  enterprises,  and  made  no 
needless  sacrifices  of  human  life,  but  when  a  fair  prospect 


1  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  success  awaited  the  blow,  struck,  and  struck  man 
fully  for  independence.  Inspired  with  a  religious  confi 
dence,  resulting  from  his  own  pure  intentions  and  the 
justice  of  his  cause,  his  hopes  of  final  triumph  in  the 
glorious  contest  seldom  wavered.  At  times  compelled  to 
retreat,  with  a  few  sickly,  ill  clad,  and  almost  disheart 
ened  troops,  before  the  superior  forces  of  the  enemy,  his 
men  marking  with  the  blood  from  their  naked  feet  the 
frozen  ground  they  trod  upon,  a  patriotism  that  never 
faltered,  and  a  confidence  in  Providence  that  never  tired, 
sustained  his  own  courage,  and  enabled  him  to  impart  a 
similar  spirit  to  the  troops  under  his  command.  The 
welfare  of  his  country  was  alike  the  subject  of  his  thoughts 
by  day  and  his  prayers  by  night.  It  was  on  an  occasion 
of  this  kind  that  an  honest  Quaker  near  Valley  Forge, 
in  traversing  the  woods  in  the  vicinity  of  the  American 
encampment,  discovered  the  great  man  on  his  knees  and 
at  prayer.  When  he  related  what  he  had  seen,  he  made 
the  prophetic  remark :  "  If  George  Washington  be  not  a 
man  of  God,  I  am  greatly  deceived ;  and  still  more  shall 
I  be  deceived  if  God  do  not,  through  him,  work  out  a 
great  salvation  for  America." 

The  limits  of  this  sketch  will  not  admit  even  of  an 
outline  of  the  events  of  the  revolution.  They  are  written 
on  the  pages  of  history,  and  inscribed  on  the  hearts  of 
the  countrymen  of  Washington.  From  the  commence 
ment  of  the  war  to  the  surrender  of  Cornwall  is  at  York- 
town,  an  almost  continual  succession  of  triumphs  re 
warded  the  efforts  of  the  patriots  of  the  revolution. 
Having  concluded  his  part  in  the  great  drama,  and  se 
cured  his  countrymen  in  the  enjoyment  of  peace  and 
independence,  on  the  4th  of  December,  1782,  Wash 
ington  took  an  affectionate  leave  of  his  old  companions 
in  arms.  Soon  after,  he  presented  himself  before  the 


LIFE    OP   WASHINGTON.  13 

American  Congress,  and  surrendered  his  commission, 
concluding  a  brief  address  to  the  president  on  that  occa 
sion  with  the  following  remarkable  words.  "Having 
now  finished  the  work  assigned  me,  I  retire  from  the 
great  theatre  of  action,  and  bidding  an  affectionate  fare 
well  to  this  august  body,  under  whose  orders  I  have  so 
long  acted,  I  here  offer  my  commission,  and  take  leave 
of  all  the  employments  of  public  life." 

On  the  return  of  peace  he  returned,  like  Cincinnatus, 
to  the  plough.  He  was  not  destined,  however,  long  to 
enjoy  the  quiet  of  his  own  farm,  and  the  peaceful  occu 
pations  of  a  retired  and  agricultural  life.  In  1787,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  convention  which  framed 
the  American  constitution,  and  chosen  by  acclamation 
to  preside  over  its  deliberations.  In  the  autumn  of  1788, 
he  was  elected,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  first  president  of 
the  United  States,  and  after  having  been  once  re-elected, 
he  declined  being  again  considered  a  candidate  for  that 
important  station.  At  the  close  of  his  second  term,  he 
took  leave  of  his  fellow-citizens  in  a  farewell  address, 
which  from  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  which  dictated  it, 
has  become  scarcely  less  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  American 
freemen,  than  the  constitution  which  secures  to  them  the 
enjoyment  of  the  inestimable  advantages  which  it  cost 
them  a  seven  years'  war  to  gain.  From  his  retirement  to 
Mount  Vernon,  on  this  occasion,  he  never  returned  to 
the  active  duties  of  public  life.  In  the  language  of  a 
distinguished  writer,  "  he  came  from  his  retirement  at 
Mount  Vernon  accompanied  by  joyful  acclamations  of 
welcome,  and  he  was  followed  thither  by  the  love  and 
veneration  of  millions  of  grateful  people." 

On  the  14th  of  December,  1799,  near  the  close  of  a 
century  of  which  he  was  the  noblest  ornament,  this  great 
man  expired,  aged  68  years,  and  ere  the  commencement 

VOL.    II.  2 


14  THE    TRUE   AMERICAN. 

of  another  month,  the  melancholy  news  had  reached 
every  corner  of  the  country,  exciting  such  a  deep  and 
universal  grief,  as  the  decease  of  no  other  mortal  has 
ever  occasioned.  It  was  but  a  short  time  before  this 
event,  that  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  just  as  he  was  about  to 
embark  for  Egypt,  passed  a  high  compliment  upon  his 
name.  "  Ah,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  in  reply  to  an  allusion 
to  the  American  general,  "  Washington  can  never  be 
otherwise  than  well.  The  measure  of  his  fame  is  full. 
Posterity  will  talk  of  him  with  reverence,  as  the  founder 
of  a  great  empire,  when  my  name  shall  be  lost  in  the 
vortex  of  revolutions." 


Among  the  earliest  papers  found  in  the  archives  at 
Mount  Vernon,  were  the  fragments  of  manuscripts  writ 
ten  by  Washington  during  his  boyhood  and  youth.  One 
hundred  and  ten  rules  are  here  written  out  and  num 
bered.  The  source  from  which  they  were  derived  is  not 
mentioned.  They  form  a  minute  code  of  regulations 
for  building  up  the  habits  of  morals,  manners,  and  good 
conduct  in  a  young  person.  A  few  specimens  will  be 
enough  to  show  their  general  complexion ;  and  whoever 
has  studied  the  character  of  Washington  will  be  per 
suaded  that  some  of  its  most  prominent  features  took 
their  shape  from  these  rules  thus  early  selected  and 
adopted  as  his  guide. 

1.  Every  action  in  company  ought  to  be  with  some 
sign  of  respect  to  those  present. 

2.  Let  your   countenance  be   pleasant,  but  in  serious 
matters  somewhat  grave. 

3.  Show  not  yourself  glad  at  the  misfortune  of  ano 
ther,  though  he  were  your  enemy. 

4.  Let  your  discourse  with  men  of  business  be  short 
and  comprehensive. 

5.  In  visiting  the  sick,  do  not  presently  play  the  physi 
cian  if  you  be  not  knowing  therein. 

6.  In  writing  or  speaking,  give  to  every  person  his 
due  title,  according  to  his  degree  and  the  custom  of  the 
place. 


LIFE    OF    WASHINGTON.  15 

7.  When  a  man  does  all  he  can,  though  it  succeeds 
not  well,  blame  not  him  that  did  it. 

8.  Being  to  advise  or  reprehend  any  one,  consider  whe 
ther  it  ought  to  be  in  public  or  in  private,  presently  or  at 
some  other  time,  in  what  terms  to  do  it ;  and  in  reprov 
ing,  show  no  signs  of  choler,  but  do  it  with  sweetness 
and  mildness. 

9.  Take  all    admonitions  thankfully,  in  what  time  or 
place  soever  given  ;  but  afterwards,   not  being  culpable, 
take  a  time  or  place  convenient  to  let  him  know  it  that 
gave  them. 

10.  Wherein  you  reprove  another,  be  unblamable  your 
self;  for  example  is  more  prevalent  than  precepts. 

11.  Use  no   reproachful   language   against   any   one; 
neither  curse  nor  revile. 

12.  Be  not  hasty  to  believe  flying  reports  to  the  dis 
paragement  of  any. 

13.  In  your  apparel  be  modest,  and  endeavor  to  accom 
modate  nature,  rather  than  to  procure  admiration ;  keep 
to  the  fashions  of  your  equals,  such  as  are  civil  and  orderly 
with  respect  to  times  and  places. 

14.  Let  your  conversation  be  without  malice  or  envy, 
for  it  is  a  sign  of  a  tractable   and  commendable  nature ; 
and  in  all  causes  of  passion,  admit  reason  to  govern. 

15.  Be  not  curious  to  know  the  affairs  of  others,  nei 
ther  approach  to  those  that  speak  in  private. 

16.  Undertake  not  what  you  cannot  perform ;  but  be 
careful  to  keep  your  promise. 

17.  When  you  deliver  a  matter,  do  it  without  passion 
and  with  discretion,  however  mean  the  person  be  you  do 
it  to. 

18.  Be  not  angry  at  table,  whatever  happens,  and  if 
you  have  reason  to  be  so,  show  it  not ;  put  on  a  cheerful 
countenance,  especially  if  there  be  strangers,   for  good 
humor  makes  one  dish  a  feast. 

19.  When  you  speak  of  God  or  his  attributes,  let  it  be 
seriously  in  reverence.     Honor  and  obey  your  natural 
parents,  although  they  be  poor. 

20.  Let  your  recreations  be  manful,  not  sinful. 

21.  Labor  to  keep  alive  in  your  breast  that  little  spark 
of  celestial  fire,  called  conscience. 


16  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

SECOND   ANNUAL   ADDRESS, 

DECEMBER    8,    1790. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives, 

In  meeting  you  again,  I  feel  much  satisfaction  in  being 
able  to  repeat  my  congratulations  on  the  favorable  pros 
pects  which  continue  to  distinguish  our  public  affairs. 
The  abundant  fruits  of  another  year  have  blessed  our 
country  with  plenty,  and  with  the  means  of  a  flourishing 
commerce.  The  progress  of  public  credit  is  witnessed 
by  a  considerable  rise  of  American  stock  abroad  as  well 
as  at  home ;  and  the  revenues  allotted  for  this  and  other 
national  purposes  have  been  productive  beyond  the  cal 
culations  by  which  they  were  regulated.  This  latter  cir 
cumstance  is  the  more  pleasing,  as  it  is  not  only  a  proof 
of  the  fertility  of  our  resources,  but  as  it  assures  us  of  a 
further  increase  of  the  national  respectability  and  credit ; 
and,  let  me  add,  as  it  bears  an  honorable  testimony  to  the 
patriotism  and  integrity  of  the  mercantile  and  marine 
part  of  our  citizens.  The  punctuality  of  the  former  in 
discharging  their  engagements  has  been  exemplary. 

In  conforming  to  the  powers  vested  in  me  by  acts  of 
the  last  session,  a  loan  of  three  millions  of  florins,  to 
wards  which  some  provisional  measures  had  previously 
taken  place,  has  been  completed  in  Holland.  As  well 
the  celerity  with  which  it  has  been  filled,  as  the  nature 
of  the  terms,  (considering  the  more  than  ordinary  de 
mand  for  borrowing,  created  by  the  situation  of  Europe,) 
give  a  reasonable  hope  that  the  further  execution  of  those 
powers  may  proceed  with  advantage  and  success.  The 
secretary  of  the  treasury  has  my  direction  to  communi 
cate  such  further  particulars  as  may  be  requisite  for  more 
precise  information. 

Since  your  last  session,  I  have  received  communica 
tions,  by  which  it  appears  that  the  district  of  Kentucky, 
at  present  a  part  of  Virginia,  has  concurred  in  certain 
propositions  contained  in  a  law  of  that  state;  in  conse 
quence  of  which,  the  district  is  to  become  a  distinct 
member  of  the  Union,  in  case  the  requisite  sanction  of 


SECOND   ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  17 

Congress  be  added.  For  this  sanction  application  is 
now  made.  I  shall  cause  the  papers  on  this  very  impor 
tant  transaction  to  be  laid  before  you.  The  liberality 
and  harmony  with  which  it  has  been  conducted,  will  be 
found  to  do  great  honor  to  both  the  parties ;  and  the  sen 
timents  of  warm  attachment  to  the  Union  and  its  present 
government  expressed  by  our  fellow-citizens  of  Ken 
tucky,  cannot  fail  to  add  an  affectionate  concern  for  their 
particular  welfare  to  the  great  national  impressions  under 
which  you  will  decide  on  the  case  submitted  to  you. 

It  has  been  heretofore  known  to  Congress,  that  fre 
quent  incursions  have  been  made  on  our  frontier  settle 
ments  by  certain  banditti  of  Indians  from  the  north-west 
side  of  the  Ohio.  These,  with  some  of  the  tribes  dwelling 
on  and  near  the  Wabash,  have  of  late  been  particularly 
active  in  their  depredations ;  and,  being  emboldened  by 
the  impunity  of  their  crimes,  and  aided  by  such  parts  of 
the  neighboring  tribes  as  could  be  seduced  to  join  in  their 
hostilities,  or  afford  them  a  retreat  for  their  prisoners  and 
plunder,  they  have,  instead  of  listening  to  the  humane 
invitations  and  overtures  made  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  renewed  their  violences  with  fresh  alacrity  and 
greater  effect.  The  lives  of  a  number  of  valuable  citi 
zens  have  thus  been  sacrificed,  and  some  of  them  under 
circumstances  peculiarly  shocking,  whilst  others  have 
been  carried  into  a  deplorable  captivity. 

These  aggravated  provocations  rendered  it  essential  to 
the  safety  of  the  western  settlements  that  the  aggressors 
should  be  made  sensible  that  the  government  of  the  Union 
is  not  less  capable  of  punishing  their  crimes,  than  it  is 
disposed  to  respect  their  rights,  and  reward  their  attach 
ments.  As  this  object  could  not  be  effected  by  defensive 
measures,  it  became  necessary  to  put  in  force  the  act 
which  empowers  the  President  to  call  out  the  militia  for 
the  protection  of  the  frontiers ;  and  I  have,  accordingly, 
authorized  an  expedition,  in  which  the  regular  troops  in 
that  quarter  are  combined  with  such  draughts  of  militia 
as  were  deemed  sufficient.  The  event  of  the  measure  is 
yet  unknown  to  me.  The  secretary  of  war  is  directed 
to  lay  before  you  a  statement  of  the  information  on  which 
VOL.  n.  *  3* 


18  THE    TRUE   AMERICAN". 

it  is  founded,  as  well  as  an  estimate  of  the  expense  with 
which  it  will  be  attended. 

The  disturbed  situation  of  Europe,  and  particularly  the 
critical  posture  of  the  great  maritime  powers,  whilst  it 
ought  to  make  us  the  more  thankful  for  the  general  peace 
and  security  enjoyed  by  the  United  States,  reminds  us,  at 
the  same  time,  of  the  circumspection  with  which  it  be 
comes  us  to  preserve  these  blessings.  It  requires,  also, 
that  we  should  not  overlook  the  tendency  of  a  war,  and 
even  of  preparations  for  a  war,  among  the  nations  most 
concerned  in  active  commerce  with  this  country,  to  abridge 
the  means,  and  thereby  at  least  enhance  the  price  of  trans 
porting  its  valuable  productions  to  their  proper  markets. 
I  recommend  it  to  your  serious  reflections  how  far,  and 
in  what  mode,  it  may  be  expedient  to  guard  against  embar 
rassments  from  these  contingencies,  by  such  encourage 
ments  to  our  own  navigation  as  will  render  our  commerce 
and  agriculture  less  dependent  on  foreign  bottoms,  which 
may  fail  us  in  the  very  moment  most  interesting  to  both 
of  these  great  objects.  Our  fisheries,  and  the  transpor 
tation  of  our  own  produce,  offer  us  abundant  means  for 
guarding  ourselves  against  this  evil. 

Your  attention  seems  to  be  not  less  due  to  that  particu 
lar  branch  of  our  trade  which  belongs  to  the  Mediterra 
nean.  So  many  circumstances  unite  in  rendering  the 
present  state  of  it  distressful  to  us,  that  you  will  not  think 
any  deliberations  misemployed  which  may  lead  to  its  re 
lief  and  protection. 

The  laws  you  have  already  passed  for  the  establishment 
of  a  judiciary  system,  have  opened  the  doors  of  justice 
to  all  descriptions  of  persons.  You  will  consider  in  your 
wisdom,  whether  improvements  in  that  system  may  yet 
be  made ;  and,  particularly,  whether  a  uniform  process  of 
execution,  on  sentences  issuing  from  the  federal  courts, 
be  not  desirable  through  all  the  states. 

The  patronage  of  our  commerce,  of  our  merchants, 
and  seamen,  has  called  for  the  appointment  of  consuls  in 
foreign  countries.  It  seems  expedient  to  regulate  by  law 
the  exercise  of  that  jurisdiction,  and  those  functions 
which  are  permitted  them,  either  by  express  convention, 
or  by  a  friendly  indulgence,  in  the  places  of  their  resi- 


SECOND    ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  19 

dence.  The  consular  convention,  too,  with  his  most 
Christian  majesty  has  stipulated,  in  certain  cases,  the  aid 
of  the  national  authority  to  his  consuls  established  here. 
Some  legislative  provision  is  requisite  to  carry  these 
stipulations  into  full  effect. 

The  establishment  of  the  militia,  of  a  mint,  of  stan 
dards  of  weights  and  measures,  of  the  post-office  and 
post-roads,  are  subjects  which,  I  presume,  you  will  resume 
of  course,  and  which  are  abundantly  urged  by  their  own 
importance. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

The  sufficiency  of  the  revenues  you  have  established 
for  the  objects  to  which  they  are  appropriated,  leaves 
no  doubt  that  the  residuary  provisions  will  be  commensu 
rate  to  the  other  objects  for  which  the  public  faith  stands 
now  pledged.  Allow  me,  moreover,  to  hope  that  it  will 
be  a  favorite  policy  with  you  not  merely  to  secure  a  pay 
ment  of  the  interest  of  the  debt  funded,  but,  as  far  and 
as  fast  as  the  growing  resources  of  the  country  will  per 
mit,  to  exonerate  it  of  the  principal  itself.  The  appro 
priations  you  have  made  of  the  western  land,  explain 
your  dispositions  on  this  subject,  and  I  am  persuaded  that 
the  sooner  that  valuable  fund  can  be  made  to  contribute, 
along  with  other  means,  to  the  actual  reduction  of  the 
public  debt,  the  more  salutary  will  the  measure  be  to 
every  public  interest,  as  well  as  the  more  satisfactory  to 
our  constituents. 

Gentlemen  of  tlie  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

In  pursuing  the  various  and  weighty  business  of  the 
present  session,  I  indulge  the  fullest  persuasion  that 
your  consultations  will  be  equally  marked  with  wisdom, 
and  animated  by  the  love  of  your  country.  In  whatever 
belongs  to  my  duty,  you  shall  have  all  the  co-operation 
which  an  undiminished  zeal  for  its  welfare  can  inspire. 
It  will  be  happy  for  us  both,  and  our  best  reward,  if,  b 
a  successful  administration  of  our  respective  trusts,  we 
can  make  the  established  government  more  and  more  in 
strumental  in  promoting  the  good  of  our  fellow-citizens, 
and  more  and  more  the  objects  of  their  attachment  and 
confidence. 


20  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

THIRD  ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

OCTOBER   25,  1791. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

I  meet  you  upon  the  present  occasion  with  the  feelings 
which  are  naturally  inspired  by  a  strong  impression  of 
the  prosperous  situation  of  our  common  country,  and  by 
a  persuasion  equally  strong  that  the  labors  of  the  session 
which  has  just  commenced  will,  under  the  guidance  of  a 
spirit  no  less  prudent  than  patriotic,  issue  in  measures 
conducive  to  the  stability  and  increase  of  national  pros 
perity. 

Numerous  as  are  the  providential  blessings  which  de 
mand  our  grateful  acknowledgments,  the  abundance  with 
which  another  year  has  again  rewarded  the  industry  of 
the  husbandman  is  too  important  to  escape  recollection. 

Your  own  observations  in  your  respective  situations 
will  have  satisfied  you  of  the  progressive  state  of  agricul 
ture,  manufactures,  commerce,  and  navigation.  In  trac 
ing  their  causes,  you  will  have  remarked,  with  particular 
pleasure,  the  happy  effects  of  that  revival  of  confidence, 
public  as  well  as  private,  to  which  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States  have  so  eminently  contributed ; 
and  you  will  have  observed,  with  no  less  interest,  new 
and  decisive  proofs  of  the  increasing  reputation  and  cre 
dit  of  the  nation.  But  you  nevertheless  cannot  fail  to 
derive  satisfaction  from  the  confirmation  of  these  circum 
stances,  which  will  be  disclosed  in  the  several  official 
communications  that  will  be  made  to  you  in  the  course 
of  your  deliberations. 

The  rapid  subscriptions  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  which  completed  the  sum  allowed  to  be  subscribed 
in  a  single  day,  is  among  the  striking  and  pleasing  evi 
dences  which  present  themselves,  not  only  of  confidence 
in  the  government,  but  of  resources  in  the  community. 

In  the  interval  of  your  recess,  due  attention  has  been 
paid  to  the  execution  of  the  different  objects  which  were 
specially  provided  for  by  the  laws  and  resolutions  of  the 
last  session. 


THIRD    ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  21 

Among  the  most  important  of  these  is  the  defence  and 
security  of  the  western  frontiers.  To  accomplish  it  on 
the  most  humane  principles  was  a  primary  wish. 

Accordingly,  at  the  same  time  that  treaties  have  been 
provisionally  concluded,  and  other  proper  means  used  to 
attach  the  wavering,  and  to  confirm  in  their  friendship 
the  well-disposed  tribes  of  Indians,  effectual  measures 
have  been  adopted  to  make  those  of  a  hostile  description 
sensible  that  a  pacification  was  desired  upon  terms  of 
moderation  and  justice. 

These  measures  having  proved  unsuccessful,  it  became 
necessary  to  convince  the  refractory  of  the  power  of  the 
United  States  to  punish  their  depredations.  Offensive 
operations  have  therefore  been  directed,  to  be  conducted, 
however,  as  consistently  as  possible  with  the  dictates  of 
humanity.  Some  of  these  have  been  crowned  with  full 
success,  and  others  are  yet  depending.  The  expeditions 
which  have  been  completed  were  carried  on  under  the 
authority  and  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States,  by 
the  militia  of  Kentucky,  whose  enterprise,  intrepidity, 
and  good  conduct,  are  entitled  to  peculiar  commendation. 

Overtures  of  peace  are  still  continued  to  the  deluded 
tribes,  and  considerable  numbers  of  individuals  belong 
ing  to  them  have  lately  renounced  all  further  opposition, 
removed  from  their  former  situations,  and  placed  them 
selves  under  the  immediate  protection  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  sincerely  to  be  desired  that  all  need  of  coercion 
in  future  may  cease,  and  that  an  intimate  intercourse 
may  succeed,  calculated  to  advance  the  happiness  of  the 
Indians,  and  to  attach  them  firmly  to  the  United  States. 

In  order  to  this,  it  seems  necessary — : 

That  they  should  experience  the  benefits  of  an  impar 
tial  dispensation  of  justice. 

That  the  mode  of  alienating  their  lands,  the  main  source 
of  discontent  and  war,  should  be  so  defined  and  regulated 
as  to  obviate  impositions,  and,  as  far  as  may  be  practica 
ble,  controversy  concerning  the  reality  and  extent  of  the 
alienations  which  are  made. 

That  commerce  with  them  should  be  promoted  under 
regulations  tending  to  secure  an  equitable  deportment 


22  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

towards  them,  and  that  such  rational  experiments  should 
be  made  for  imparting  to  them  the  blessings  of  civiliza 
tion  as  may  from  time  to  time  suit  their  condition. 

That  the  executive  of  the  United  States  should  be  ena 
bled  to  employ  the  means  to  which  the  Indians  have  been 
long  accustomed  for  uniting  their  immediate  interests 
with  the  preservation  of  peace. 

And  that  efficacious  provision  should  be  made  for  in 
flicting  adequate  penalties  upon  all  those  who,  by  vio 
lating  their  rights,  shall  infringe  the  treaties,  and  endan 
ger  the  peace  of  the  Union. 

A  system  corresponding  with  the  mild  principles  of 
religion  and  philanthropy  towards  an  unenlightened  race 
of  men,  whose  happiness  materially  depends  on  the  con 
duct  of  the  United  States,  would  be  as  honorable  to  the 
national  character  as  conformable  to  the  dictates  of  sound 
policy. 

The  powers  specially  vested  in  me  by  the  act  laying 
certain  duties  on  distilled  spirits,  which  respect  the  sub 
divisions  of  the  districts  into  surveys,  the  appointment  of 
officers,  and  the  assignment  of  compensation,  have  like 
wise  been  carried  into  effect.  In  a  matter  in  which  both 
materials  and  experience  were  wanting  to  guide  the  cal 
culation,  it  will  be  readily  conceived  that  there  must  have 
been  difficulty  in  such  an  adjustment  of  the  rates  of 
compensation  as  would  conciliate  a  reasonable  compe 
tency  with  a  proper  regard  to  the  limits  prescribed  by  the 
law.  It  is  hoped  that  the  circumspection  which  has  been 
used  will  be  found,  in  the  result,  to  have  secured  the  last 
of  the  two  objects ;  but  it  is  probable  that,  with  a  view 
to  the  first,  in  some  instances  a  revision  of  the  provision 
will  be  found  advisable. 

The  impressions  with  which  this  law  has  been  received 
by  the  community  have  been,  upon  the  whole,  such  as 
were  to  be  expected  among  enlightened  and  well-disposed 
citizens,  from  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  the  measure. 
The  novelty,  however,  of  the  tax,  in  a  considerable  part 
of  the  United  States,  and  a  misconception  of  some  of 
its  provisions,  have  given  occasion,  in  particular  places, 
to  some  degree  of  discontent.  But  it  is  satisfactory  to 
know  that  this  disposition  yields  to  proper  explanations 


THIRD   ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  23 

and  more  just  apprehensions  of  the  true  nature  of  the 
law.  And  I  entertain  a  full  confidence  that  it  will,  in 
all,  give  way  to  motives  which  arise  out  of  a  just  sense 
of  duty  and  a  virtuous  regard  to  the  public  welfare. 

If  there  are  any  circumstances  in  the  law  which,  con 
sistently  with  its  main  design,  may  be  so  varied  as  to 
remove  any  well-intentioned  objections  that  may  happen 
to  exist,  it  will  consist  with  a  wise  moderation  to  make 
the  proper  variations.  It  is  desirable,  on  all  occasions, 
to  unite,  with  a  steady  and  firm  adherence  to  constitu 
tional  and  necessary  acts  of  government,  the  fullest  evi 
dence  of  a  disposition,  as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  to 
consult  the  wishes  of  every  part  of  the  community,  and 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  public  administration  in  the 
affections  of  the  people. 

Pursuant  to  the  authority  contained  in  the  several  acts 
on  that  subject,  a  district  of  ten  miles  square,  for  the 
permanent  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States 
has  been  fixed  and  announced  by  proclamation  ;  which 
district  will  comprehend  lands  on  both  sides  of  the  river 
Potomac,  and  the  towns  of  Alexandria  and  Georgetown. 
A  city  has  also  been  laid  out  agreeably  to  a  plan  which 
will  be  placed  before  Congress.  And  as  there  is  a  pros 
pect,  favored  by  the  rate  of  sales  which  have  already 
taken  place,  of  ample  funds  for  carrying  on  the  necessary 
public  buildings,  there  is  every  expectation  6f  their  due 
progress. 

The  completion  of  the  census  of  the  inhabitants,  for 
which  provision  was  made  by  law,  has  been  duly  notified, 
(excepting  in  one  instance  in  which  the  return  has  been 
informal,  and  another  in  which  it  has  been  omitted  or 
miscarried,)  and  the  returns  of  the  officers  who  were 
charged  with  this  duty,  which  will  be  laid  before  you, 
will  give  you  the  pleasing  assurance  that  the  present  popu 
lation  of  the  United  States  borders  on  four  millions  of 
persons. 

It  is  proper  also  to  inform  you,  that  a  further  loan  of 
two  millions  and  a  half  of  florins  has  been  completed  in 
Holland  ;  the  terms  of  which  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
one  last  announced,  except  as  to  a  small  reduction  of 
charges.  Another,  on  like  terms,  for  six  millions  of 


24  THE  TRUE   AMERICAN. 

florins,  had  been  set  on  foot  under  circumstances  that 
assured  an  immediate  completion. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate : 

Two  treaties  which  have  been  provisionally  concluded 
with  the  Cherokees,  and  Six  Nations  of  Indians,  will  be 
laid  before  you  for  your  consideration  and  ratification. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

In  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  your  legislative  trust, 
you  must  anticipate  with  pleasure  that  many  of  the  diffi 
culties  necessarily  incident  to  the  first  arrangements  of  a 
new  government  for  an  extensive  country,  have  been  hap 
pily  surmounted  by  the  zealous  and  judicious  exertions 
of  your  predecessors  in  co-operation  with  the  other  branch 
of  the  legislature.  The  important  objects  which  remain 
to  be  accomplished  will,  I  am  persuaded,  be  conducted 
upon  principles  equally  comprehensive,  and  equally  well 
calculated  for  the  advancement  of  the  general  weal. 

The  time  limited  for  receiving  subscriptions  to  the 
ioans  proposed  by  the  act  making  provisions  for  the  debt 
of  the  United  States  having  expired,  statements  from  the 
proper  department  will,  as  soon  as  possible,  apprise  you 
of  the  exact  result.  Enough,  however,  is  already  known 
to  afford  an  assurance  that  the  views  of  that  act  have 
been  substantially  fulfilled.  The  subscription,  in  the  do 
mestic  debt  of  the  United  States,  has  embraced  by  far 
the  greatest  proportion  of  that  debt ;  affording,  at  the 
same  time,  proof  of  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  public 
creditors  with  the  system  which  has  been  proposed  for 
their  acceptance,  and  of  the  spirit  of  accommodation  to 
the  convenience  of  the  government  with  which  they  are 
actuated.  The  subscriptions  in  the  debts  of  the  respec 
tive  states,  as  far  as  the  provisions  of  the  law  have  per 
mitted,  may  be  said  to  be  yet  more  general.  The  part 
of  the  debt  of  the  United  States  which  remains  un 
subscribed  will  naturally  engage  your  further  delibera 
tions.. 

It  is  particularly  pleasing  to  me  to  be  able  to  announce 
to  you,  that  the  revenues  which  have  been  established 
promise  to  be  adequate  to  their  objects,  and  may  be  per* 
mitted,  if  no  unforeseen  exigency  occurs,  to  supersede 


THIRD    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  25 

for  the  present,  the  necessity  of  any  new  burdens  upon 
our  constituents. 

An  object  which  will  claim  your  early  attention  is  a 
provision  for  the  current  service  of  the  ensuing  year, 
together  with  such  ascertained  demands  upon  the  treasury 
as  require  to  be  immediately  discharged,  and  such  casu 
alties  as  may  have  arisen  in  the  execution  of  the  public 
business,  for  which  no  specific  appropriation  may  have 
yet  been  made ;  of  all  which  a  proper  estimate  will  be 
laid  before  you. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

I  shall  content  myself  with  a  general  reference  to  for 
mer  communications,  for  several  objects,  upon  which  the 
urgency  of  other  affairs  has  hitherto  postponed  any  defi 
nitive  resolution.  Their  importance  will  recall  them  to 
your  attention ;  and  I  trust  that  the  progress  already 
made  in  the  most  arduous  arrangements  of  the  govern 
ment  will  afford  you  leisure  to  resume  them  with  advan 
tage. 

There  are,  however,  some  of  them  of  which  I  cannot 
forbear  a  more  particular  mention.  These  are,  the  mili 
tia;  the  post-office  and  post-roads;  the  mint;  weights 
and  measures;  a  provision  for  the  sale  of  the  vacant  lands 
of  the  United  States. 

The  first  is  certainly  an  object  of  primary  importance, 
whether  viewed  in  reference  to  the  national  security,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  community,  or  to  the  preservation 
of  order.  In  connection  with  this,  the  establishment  of 
competent  magazines  and  arsenals,  and  the  fortification 
of  such  places  as  are  peculiarly  important  and  vulnera 
ble,  naturally  present  themselves  to  consideration.  The 
safety  of  the  United  States,  under  divine  protection,  ought 
to  rest  on  the  basis  of  systematic  and  solid  arrangements, 
exposed  as  little  as  possible  to  the  hazards  of  fortuitous 
circumstances. 

The  importance  of  the  post-office  and  post-roads,  on  a 
plan  sufficiently  liberal  and  comprehensive,  as  they  respect 
the  expedition,  safety,  and  facility  of  communication,  is 
increased  by  their  instrumentality  in  diffusing  a  know 
ledge  of  the  laws  and  proceedings  of  the  government, 

VOL.  II.  3 


26  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

which,  while  it  contributes  to  the  security  of  the  people, 
serves  also  to  guard  them  against  the  effects  of  misrepre 
sentation  and  misconception.  The  establishment  of  ad 
ditional  cross-posts,  especially  to  some  of  the  important 
points  in  the  western  and  northern  parts  of  the  Union, 
cannot  fail  to  be  of  material  utility. 

The  disorders  in  the  existing  currency,  and  especially 
the  scarcity  of  small  change,  a  scarcity  so  peculiarly  dis 
tressing  to  the  poorer  classes,  strongly  recommend  the 
carrying  into  immediate  effect  the  resolution  already  en 
tered  into  concerning  the  establishment  of  a  mint.  Mea 
sures  have  been  taken  pursuant  to  that  resolution  for 
procuring  some  of  the  most  necessary  artists,  together 
with  the  requisite  apparatus. 

A  uniformity  in  the  weights  and  measures  of  the  coun 
try  is  among  the  important  objects  submitted  to  you  by 
the  constitution,  and,  if  it  can  be  derived  from  a  standard 
at  once  invariable  and  universal,  must  be  no  less  honor 
able  to  the  public  councils,  than  conducive  to  the  public 
convenience. 

A  provision  for  the  sale  of  the  vacant  lands  of  the 
United  States  is  particularly  urged,  among  other  reasons, 
by  the  important  considerations  that  they  are  pledged  as 
a  fund  for  reimbursing  the  public  debt,  that,  if  timely 
and  judiciously  applied,  they  may  save  the  necessity  for 
burdening  our  citizens  with  new  taxes  for  the  extinguish 
ment  of  the  principal,  and  that,  being  free  to  discharge 
the  principal  but  in  a  limited  proportion,  no  opportunity 
ought  to  be  lost  for  availing  the  public  of  its  right. 


FOURTH  ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

NOVEMBER   6,  1792. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

It  is  some  abatement  of  the  satisfaction  with  which  I 
meet  you  on  the  present  occasion,  that  in  felicitating  you 
on  a  continuance  of  the  national  prosperity  generally,  I 


FOURTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  27 

am  not  able  to  add  to  it  information  that  the  Indian  hos 
tilities,  which  have  for  some  time  past  distressed  our 
north-western  frontier,  have  terminated. 

You  will,  I  am  persuaded,  learn  with  no  less  concern 
than  I  communicate  it,  that  reiterated  endeavors  towards 
effecting  a  pacification  have  hitherto  issued  only  in  new 
and  outrageous  proofs  of  persevering  hostility  on  the  part 
of  the  tribes  with  whom  we  are  in  contest.  An  earnest 
desire  to  procure  tranquillity  to  the  frontier — to  stop  the 
further  effusion  of  blood — to  arrest  the  progress  of  ex 
pense — to  forward  the  prevalent  wish  of  the  nation  for 
peace,  has  led  to  strenuous  efforts,  through  various  chan 
nels,  to  accomplish  these  desirable  purposes,  in  making 
which  efforts  I  consulted  less  my  own  anticipations  of 
the  event,  or  the  scruples  which  some  considerations 
were  calculated  to  inspire,  than  the  wish  to  find  the  object 
attainable  ;  or,  if  not  attainable,  to  ascertain,  unequivo 
cally,  that  such  is  the  case. 

A  detail  of  the  measures  which  have  been  pursued, 
and  of  their  consequences,  which  will  be  laid  before  you, 
while  it  will  confirm  to  you  the  want  of  success,  thus 
far,  will,  I  trust,  evince  that  means  as  proper  and  as 
efficacious  as  could  have  been  devised,  have  been  em 
ployed.  The  issue  of  some  of  them,  indeed,  is  still 
depending;  but  a  favorable  one,  though  not  to  be  de 
spaired  of,  is  not  promised  by  any  thing  that  has  yet 
happened. 

In  the  course  of  the  attempts  which  have  been  made, 
some  valuable  citizens  have  fallen  victims  to  their  zeal 
for  the  public  service.  A  sanction  commonly  respected 
even  among  savages,  has  been  found,  in  this  instance, 
insufficient  to  protect  from  massacre  the  emissaries  of 
peace  :  it  will,  I  presume,  be  duly  considered  whether 
the  occasion  does  not  call  for  an  exercise  of  liberality 
towards  the  families  of  the  deceased. 

It  must  add  to  your  concern  to  be  informed  that,  be 
sides  the  continuation  of  hostile  appearances  among  the 
tribes  north  of  the  Ohio,  some  threatening  symptoms 
have  of  late  been  revived  among  some  of  those  south 
of  it. 

A  part  of  the  Cherokees,  known  by  the  name  of  Chick- 


28  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

amagas,  inhabiting  five  villages  on  the  Tennessee  River, 
Have  long  been  in  the  practice  of  committing  depreda 
tions  on  the  neighboring  settlements. 

It  was  hoped  that  the  treaty  of  Holston,  made  with  the 
Cherokee  nation  in  July,  1791,  would  have  prevented  a 
repetition  of  such  depredations.  But  the  event  has  not 
answered  this  hope.  The  Chickamagas,  aided  by  some 
banditti  of  another  tribe  in  their  vicinity,  have  recently 
perpetrated  wanton  and  unprovoked  hostilities  upon  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  in  that  quarter.  The  in 
formation  which  has  been  received  on  this  subject  will 
be  laid  before  you.  Hitherto,  defensive  precautions  only 
have  been  strictly  enjoined  and  observed. 

It  is  not  understood  that  any  breach  of  treaty,  or  ag 
gression  whatsoever,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  or 
their  citizens,  is  even  alleged  as  a  pretext  for  the  spirit 
of  hostility  in  this  quarter. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  that  every  practicable  exertion 
has  been  made,  (pursuant  to  the  provision  by  law  for  that 
purpose,)  to  be  prepared  for  the  alternative  of  a  prosecu 
tion  of  the  war,  in  the  event  of  a  failure  of  pacific  over 
tures.  A  large  proportion  of  the  troops  authorized  to  be 
raised  have  been  recruited,  though  the  number  is  still 
incomplete,  and  pains  have  been  taken  to  discipline  and 
put  them  in  condition  for  the  particular  kind  of  service 
to  be  performed.  A  delay  of  operations  (beside  being 
dictated  by  the  measures  which  were  pursuing  towards  a 
pacific  termination  of  the  war)  has  been  in  itself  deemed 
preferable  to  immature  efforts.  A  statement  from  the 
proper  department  with  regard  to  the  number  of  troops 
raised,  and  some  other  points  which  have  been  suggested, 
will  afford  more  precise  information  as  a  guide  to  the 
legislative  consultations,  and,  among  other  things,  will 
enable  Congress  to  judge  whether  some  additional  stimu 
lus  to  the  recruiting  service  may  not  be  advisable. 

In  looking  forward  to  the  future  expense  of  the  opera 
tions  which  may  be  found  inevitable,  I  derive  consolation 
from  the  information  I  receive  that  the  product  of  the 
revenues  for  the  present  year  is  likely  to  supersede  the 
necessity  of  additional  burdens  on  the  community  for 
the  service  of  the  ensuing  year.  This,  however,  will  be 


FOURTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  20 

better  ascertained  in  the  course  of  the  session ;  and  it  is 
proper  to  add,  that  the  information  alluded  to  proceeds 
upon  the  supposition  of  no  material  extension  of  the 
spirit  of  hostility. 

I  cannot  dismiss  the  subject  of  Indian  affairs,  without 
again  recommending  to  your  consideration  the  expedi 
ency  of  more  adequate  provisions  for  giving  energy  to 
the  laws  throughout  our  interior  frontier ;  and  for  restrain 
ing  the  commission  of  outrages  upon  the  Indians,  without 
which  all  pacific  plans  must  prove  nugatory.  To  enable, 
by  competent  rewards,  the  employment  of  qualified  and 
trusty  persons  to  reside  among  them  as  agents,  would 
also  contribute  to  the  preservation  of  peace  and  good 
neighborhood.  If,  in  addition  to  these  expedients,  an 
eligible  plan  could  be  devised  for  promoting  civilization 
among  the  friendly  tribes,  and  for  carrying  on  trade  with 
them,  upon  a  scale  equal  to  their  wants,  and  under  regu 
lations  calculated  to  protect  them  from  imposition  and 
extortion,  its  influence  in  cementing  their  interests  with 
ours  could  not  but  be  considerable. 

The  prosperous  state  of  our  revenue  has  been  inti 
mated.  This  would  be  still  more  the  case,  were  it  not 
for  the  impediments  which  in  some  places  continue  to 
embarrass  the  collection  of  the  duties  on  spirits  distilled 
within  the  United  States.  These  impediments  have  less 
ened,  and  are  lessening  in  local  extent ;  and,  as  applied 
to  the  community  at  large,  the  contentment  with  the  law 
appears  to  be  progressive. 

But  symptoms  of  increased  opposition  having  lately 
manifested  themselves  in  certain  quarters,  I  judged  a 
special  interposition  on  my  part  proper  and  advisable; 
and  under  this  impression  have  issued  a  proclamation 
warning  against  all  unlawful  combinations  and  pro 
ceedings,  having  for  their  object  or  tending  to  obstruct 
the  operation  of  the  law  in  question,  and  announcing 
that  all  lawful  ways  and  means  would  be  strictly  put  in 
execution  for  bringing  to  justice  the  infractors  thereof, 
and  securing  obedience  thereto. 

Measures  have  also  been  taken  for  the  prosecution  of 
offenders;  and  Congress  may  be  assured  that  nothing 
within  constitutional  and  legal  limits,  which  may  depend 

VOL.    II.  3 


30  .»    THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

upon  me,  shall  be  wanting  to  assert  and  maintain  the 
just  authority  of  the  laws.  In  fulfilling  this  trust,  I  shall 
count  entirely  upon  the  full  co-operation  of  the  other  de 
partments  of  the  government,  and  upon  the  zealous  sup 
port  of  all  good  citizens. 

I  cannot  forbear  to  bring  again  into  the  view  of  the 
legislature  the  subject  of  a  revision  of  the  judiciary  sys 
tem.  A  representation  from  the  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  which  will  be  laid  before  you,  points  out  some  of 
the  inconveniences  that  are  experienced.  In  the  course 
of  the  execution  of  the  laws,  considerations  arise  out  of 
the  structure  of  that  system,  which  in  some  cases  tend 
to  relax  their  efficacy.  As  connected  with  this  subject, 
provisions  to  facilitate  the  taking  of  bail  upon  processes 
out  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  a  supplemen 
tary  definition  of  offences  against  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  Union,  and  of  the  punishment  for  such  of 
fences,  will,  it  is  presumed,  be  found  worthy  of  particular 
attention. 

Observations  on  the  value  of  peace  with  other  nations 
are  unnecessary.  It  would  be  wise,  however,  by  timely 
provisions,  to  guard  against  those  acts  of  our  own  citizens 
which  might  tend  to  disturb  it,  and  to  put  ourselves  in  a 
condition  to  give  that  satisfaction  to  foreign  nations,  which 
we  may  sometimes  have  occasion  to  require  frpm  them, 
I  particularly  recommend  to  your  consideration  the  means 
of  preventing  those  aggressions  by  our  citizens  on  the 
territory  of  other  nations,  and  other  infractions  of  the 
law  of  nations,  which,  furnishing  just  subject  of  com 
plaint,  might  endanger  our  peace  with  them  ;  and,  in 
general,  the  maintenance  of  a  friendly  intercourse  with 
foreign  powers  will  be  presented  to  your  attention  by  the 
expiration  of  the  law  for  that  purpose,  which  takes  place, 
if  not  renewed,  at  the  close  of  the  present  session. 

In  execution  of  the  authority  given  by  the  legislature, 
measures  have  been  taken  for  engaging  some  artists  from 
abroad  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  our  mint ;  others 
have  been  employed  at  home.  Provision  has  been  made 
of  the  requisite  buildings,  and  these  are  now  putting  into 
proper  condition  for  the  purposes  of  the  establishment. 
There  has  also  been  a  small  beginning  in  the  coinage  of 


FOURTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  31 

half  dimes :  the  want  of  small  coins  in  circulation  call 
ing  the  first  attention  to  them. 

The  regulation  of  foreign  coins,  in  correspondency 
with  the  principles  of  our  national  coinage,  as  being 
essential  to  their  due  operation,  and  to  order  in  our 
money  concerns,  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  resumed  and  com 
pleted. 

It  is  represented  that  some  provisions  in  the  law  which 
establishes  the  post-office,  operate,  in  experiment,  against 
the  transmission  of  newspapers  to  distant  parts  of  the 
country.  Should  this,  upon  due  inquiry,  be  found  to  be 
the  fact,  a  full  conviction  of  the  importance  of  facilitat 
ing  the  circulation  of  political  intelligence  and  informa 
tion  will,  I  doubt  not,  lead  to  the  application  of  a  remedy. 

The  adoption  of  a  constitution  for  the  state  of  Ken 
tucky  has  been  notified  to  me.  The  legislature  will  share 
with  me  in  the  satisfaction  which  arises  from  an  event 
interesting  to  the  happiness  of  the  part  of  the  nation  to 
which  it  relates,  and  conducive  to  the  general  order. 

It  is  proper  likewise  to  inform  you,  that,  since  my  last 
communication  on  the  subject,  and  in  further  execution 
of  the  acts  severally  making  provision  for  the  public 
debt,  and  for  the  reduction  thereof,  three  new  loans  have 
been  effected,  each  for  three  millions  of  florins ;  one  at 
Antwerp,  at  the  annual  interest  of  four  and  one  half  per 
cent,  with  an  allowance  of  five  per  cent,  in  lieu  of  all 
charges  ;  and  the  other  two  at  Amsterdam,  at  the  annual 
interest  of  four  per  cent,  with  an  allowance  of  five  and 
one  half  per  cent,  in  one  case,  and  of  five  per  cent,  in 
the  other,  in  lieu  of  all  charges.  The  rates  of  these 
loans,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  they  have  been 
made,  are  confirmations  of  the  high  state  of  our  credit 
abroad. 

Among  the  objects  to  which  these  funds  have  been 
directed  to  be  applied,  the  payment  of  the  debts  due  to 
certain  foreign  officers,  according  to  the  provision  made 
during  the  last  session,  has  been  embraced. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  entertain  a  strong  hope  that  the  state  of  the  national 
finances  is  now  sufficiently  matured  to  enable  you  to  enter 


32  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

upon  a  systematic  and  effectual  arrangement  for  the 
regular  redemption  and  discharge  of  the  public  debt, 
according  to  the  right  which  has  been  reserved  to  the 
government ;  no  measure  can  be  more  desirable,  whether 
viewed  with  an  eye  to  its  intrinsic  importance,  or  to  the 
general  sentiment  and  wish  of  the  nation. 

Provision  is  likewise  requisite  for  the  reimbursement 
of  the  loan  which  has  been  made  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  pursuant  to  the  eleventh  section  of  the  act 
by  which  it  is  incorporated  ;  in  fulfilling  the  public  stipu 
lations  in  this  particular,  it  is  expected  a  valuable  saving 
will  be  made. 

Appropriations  for  the  current  service  of  the  ensuing 
year,  and  for  such  extraordinaries  as  may  require  provi 
sion,  will  demand,  and  I  doubt  not  will  engage,  your 
early  attention. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  content  myself  with  recalling  your  attention,  ge 
nerally,  to  such  objects,  not  particularised  in  my  present, 
as  have  been  suggested  in  my  former  communications 
to  you. 

Various  temporary  laws  will  expire  during  the  present 
session.  Among  these,  that  which  regulates,  trade  and 
intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes  will  merit  particular 
notice. 

The  results  of  your  common  deliberations  hitherto 
will,  I  trust,  be  productive  of  solid  and  durable  advantages 
to  our  constituents;  such  as,  by  conciliating  more  and 
more  their  ultimate  suffrage,  will  tend  to  strengthen  and 
confirm  their  attachment  to  that  constitution  of  govern 
ment,  upon  which,  under  divine  Providence,  materially 
depend  their  union,  their  safety,  and  their  happiness. 

Still  further  to  promote  and  secure  these  inestimable 
ends,  there  is  nothing  which  can  have  a  more  powerful 
tendency  than  the  careful  cultivation  of  harmony,  com 
bined  with  a  due  regard  to  stability  in  the  public  coun 
cils. 


FIFTH    ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  33 

FIFTH   ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

DECEMBER   3,    1793. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  term  for  which  I  hare 
been  again  called  into  office,  no  fit  occasion  has  arisen 
for  expressing  to  my  fellow-citizens  at  large  the  deep  and 
respectful  sense  which  I  feel  of  the  renewed  testimony  of 
public  approbation.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  it  awa 
kened  my  gratitude  for  all  those  instances  of  affectionate 
partiality  with  which  I  have  been  honored  by  my  country, 
on  the  other,  it  could  not  prevent  an  earnest  wish  for 
that  retirement  from  which  no  private  consideration 
should  ever  have  torn  me.  But,  influenced  by  the  belief 
that  my  conduct  would  be  estimated  according  to  its  real 
motives,  and  that  the  people,  and  the  authorities  derived 
from  them,  would  support  exertions  having  nothing  per 
sonal  for  their  object,  I  have  obeyed  the  suffrage  which 
commanded  me  to  resume  the  executive  power ;  and  I 
humbly  implore  that  Being  on  whose  will  the  fate  of  na 
tions  depends  to  crown  with  success  our  mutual  endeavors 
for  the  general  happiness. 

As  soon  as  the  war  in  Europe  had  embraced  those 
powers  with  whom  the  United  States  have  the  most  ex 
tensive  relations,  there  was  reason  to  apprehend  that  our 
intercourse  with  them  might  be  interrupted,  and  our  dis 
position  for  peace  drawn  into  question  by  the  suspicions 
too  often  entertained  by  belligerent  nations.  It  seemed, 
therefore,  to  be  my  duty  to  admonish  our  citizens  of  the 
consequences  of  a  contraband  trade,  and  of  hostile  acts 
to  any  of  the  parties ;  and  to  obtain  by  a  declaration  of 
the  existing  legal  state  of  things  an  easier  admission  of 
our  rights  to  the  immunities  belonging  to  our  situation. 
Under  these  impressions  the  proclamation  which  will  be 
laid  before  you  is  issued. 

In  this  posture  of  affairs,  both  new  and  delicate,  I  re 
solved  to  adopt  general  rules  which  should  conform  to 
the  treaties  and  assert  the  privileges  of  the  United  States. 
These  were  reduced  into  a  system,  which  will  be  com- 


34  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

municated  to  you.  Although  I  have  not  thought  myself 
at  liberty  to  forbid  the  sale  of  the  prizes,  permitted  by 
our  treaty  of  commerce  with  France  to  be  brought  into 
our  ports,  I  have  not  refused  to  cause  them  to  be  restored 
when  they  are  taken  within  the  protection  of  our  territo 
ry,  or  by  vessels  commissioned  or  equipped  in  a  warlike 
form  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States. 

It  rests  with  the  wisdom  of  Congress  to  correct,  im 
prove,  or  enforce  this  plan  of  procedure  ;  and  it  will  pro 
bably  be  found  expedient  to  extend  the  legal  code  and 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States  to 
many  cases  which,  though  dependent  on  principles  al 
ready  recognised,  demand  some  further  provisions. 

Where  individuals  shall,  within  the  United  States,  ar 
ray  themselves  in  hostility  against  any  of  the  powers  at 
war ;  or  enter  upon  military  expeditions  or  entefprises 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States ;  or  usurp 
and  exercise  judicial  authority  within  the  United  States ; 
or  where  the  penalties  on  violations  of  the  law  of  na 
tions  may  have  been  indistinctly  marked,  or  are  inade 
quate  ;  these  offences  cannot  receive  too  early  and  close 
an  attention,  and  require  prompt  and  decisive  remedies. 

Whatsoever  those  remedies  may  be,  they  will  be  well 
administered  by  the  judiciary,  who  possess  a  long  esta 
blished  course  of  investigation,  effectual  process,  and  offi 
cers  in  the  habit  of  executing  it. 

In  like  manner,  as  several  of  the  courts  have  doubted, 
under  particular  circumstances,  their  power  to  liberate 
the  vessels  of  a  nation  at  peace,  and  even  of  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  although  seized  under  a  false  color  of 
being  hostile  property,  and  have  denied  their  power  to 
liberate  certain  captures  within  the  protection  of  our  ter 
ritory,  it  would  seem  proper  to  regulate  their  jurisdiction 
in  these  points :  but  if  the  executive  is  to  be  the  resort 
in  either  of  the  two  last-mentioned  cases,  it  is  hoped  that 
he  will  be  authorised  by  law  to  have  facts  ascertained  by 
the  courts,  when,  for  his  own  information,  he  shall  re 
quest  it. 

I  cannot  recommend  to  your  notice  measures  for  the 
fulfilment  of  our  duties  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  without 
again  pressing  upon  you  the  necessity  of  placing  our- 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  35 

selves  in  a  condition  of  complete  defence,  and  of  exacting 
from  them  the  fulfilment  of  their  duties  towards  us.  The 
United  States  ought  riot  to  indulge  a  persuasion  that, 
contrary  to  the  order  of  human  events,  they  will  forever 
keep  at  a  distance  those  painful  appeals  to  arms  with  which 
the  history  of  every  other  nation  abounds.  There  is  a 
rank  due  to  the  United  States  among  nations  which  will 
be  withheld,  if  not  absolutely  lost,  by  the  reputation  of 
weakness.  If  we  desire  to  avoid  insult,  we  must  be  able 
to  repel  it ;  if  we  desire  to  secure  peace,  one  of  the  most 
powerful  instruments  of  our  rising  prosperity,  it  must  be 
known  that  we  are  at  all  times  ready  for  war.  The  docu 
ments  which  will  be  presented  to  you  will  show  the  amount 
and  kinds  of  arms  and  military  stores  now  in  our  maga 
zines  and  arsenals  ;  and  yet  an  addition  even  to  these 
supplies  cannot,  with  prudence,  be  neglected,  as  it  would 
leave  nothing  to  the  uncertainty  of  procuring  of  warlike 
apparatus  in  the  moment  of  public  danger. 

Nor  can  such  arrangements,  with  such  objects,  be  ex 
posed  to  the  censure  or  jealousy  of  the  warmest  friends 
of  republican  government.  They  are  incapable  of  abuse 
in  the  hands  of  the  militia,  who  ought  to  possess  a  pride 
in  being  the  depositary  of  the  force  of  the  republic,  and 
may  be  trained  to  a  degree  of  energy  equal  to  every  mili 
tary  exigency  of  the  United  States.  But  it  is  an  inquiry 
which  cannot  be  too  solemnly  pursued,  whether  the  act 
"  more  effectually  to  provide  for  the  national  defence,  by 
establishing  a  uniform  militia  throughout  the  United 
States,"  has  organized  them  so  as  to  produce  their  full 
effect ;  whether  your  own  experience  in  the  several  states 
has  not  detected  some  imperfections  in  the  scheme ;  and 
whether  a  material  feature  in  an  improvement  of  it  ought 
not  to  be  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  study  of  those 
branches  of  the  military  art  which  can  scarcely  ever  be 
attained  by  practice  alone. 

The  connection  of  the  United  States  with  Europe  has 
become  extremely  interesting.  The  occurrences  which 
relate  to  it  and  have  passed  under  the  knowledge  of  the 
executive,  will  be  exhibited  to  Congress  in  a  subsequent 
communication. 

When  we  contemplate  the  war  on  our  frontiers,  it  may 


86  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

be  truly  affirmed  that  every  reasonable  effort  has  been 
made  to  adjust  the  causes  of  dissention  with  the  Indians 
north  of  the  Ohio.  The  instructions  given  to  the  com 
missioners  evince  a  moderation  and  equity  proceeding 
from  a  sincere  love  of  peace  and  a  liberality  having  no 
restriction  but  the  essential  interests  and  dignity  of  the 
United  States.  The  attempt,  however,  of  an  amicable 
negotiation  having  been  frustrated,  the  troops  have  march 
ed  to  act  offensively.  Although  the  proposed  treaty  did 
not  arrest  the  progress  of  military  preparation,  it  is  doubt 
ful  how  far  the  advance  of  the  season,  before  good  faith 
justified  active  movements,  may  retard  them  during  the 
remainder  of  the  year.  From  the  papers  and  intelligence 
which  relate  to  this  important  subject,  you  will  determine 
whether  the  deficiency  in  the  number  of  troops  granted 
by  law  shall  be  compensated  by  succors  of  militia,  or  ad 
ditional  encouragements  shall  be  proposed  to  recruits. 

An  anxiety  has  been  also  demonstrated  by  the  execu 
tive  for  peace  with  the  Creeks  and  the  Cherokees.  The 
former  have  been  relieved  by  corn  and  with  clothing, 
and  offensive  measures  against  them  prohibited  during 
the  recess  of  Congress.  To  satisfy  the  complaints  of  the 
latter,  prosecutions  have  been  instituted  for  the  violences 
committed  upon  them.  But  the  papers  which  will  be  de 
livered  to  you  disclose  the  critical  footing  on  which  we 
stand  in  regard  to  both  those  tribes ;  and  it  is  with  Con 
gress  to  pronounce  what  shall  be  done. 

After  they  shall  have  provided  for  the  present  emergen 
cy,  it  will  merit  their  most  serious  labors  to  render  tran 
quillity  with  the  savages  permanent  by  creating  ties  of 
interest.  Next  to  a  rigorous  execution  of  justice  on  the 
violators  of  peace,  the  establishment  of  commerce  with 
the  Indian  nations,  in  behalf  of  the  United  States,  is 
most  likely  to  conciliate  their  attachment.  But  it  ought 
to  be  conducted  without  fraud,  without  extortion,  with 
constant  and  plentiful  supplies;  with  a  ready  market  for 
the  commodities  of  the  Indians,  and  a  stated  price  for 
what  they  give  in  payment  and  receive  in  exchange.  In 
dividuals  will  not  pursue  such  traffic  unless  they  be  illured 
by  the  hope  of  profit ;  but  it  will  be  enough  for  the  Uni 
ted  States  to  be  reimbursed  only.  Should  this  recomend- 


FIFTH    ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  37 

ation  accord  with  the  opinion  of  Congress,  they  will  re 
collect  that  it  cannot  be  accomplished  by  any  means  yet 
in  the  hands  of  the  executive. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

The  commissioners  charged  with  the  settlement  of  ac 
counts  between  the  United  States  and  individual  states, 
concluded  their  important  functions  within  the  time  li 
mited  by  law;  and  the  balances  struck  in  their  report, 
which  will  be  laid  before  Congress,  have  been  placed  on 
the  books  of  the  treasury. 

On  the  first  day  of  June  last,  an  instalment  of  one  mil 
lion  of  florins  became  payable  on  the  loans  of  the  United 
States  in  Holland.  This  was  adjusted  by  a  prolongation 
of  the  period  of  reimbursement,  in  nature  of  a  new  loan, 
at  an  interest  of  five  per  cent,  for  the  term  of  ten  years, 
and  the  expenses  of  this  operation  were  a  commission  of 
three  per  cent. 

The  first  instalment  of  the  loan  of  two  millions  of  dol 
lars  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  has  been  paid,  as 
was  directed  by  law.  For  the  second  it  is  necessary  that 
provision  should  be  made. 

No  pecuniary  consideration  is  more  urgent  than  the 
regular  redemption  and  discharge  of  the  public  debt  •  on 
none  can  delay  be  more  injurious,  or  an  economy  of  time 
more  valuable. 

The  productiveness  of  the  public  revenues  hitherto  has 
continued  to  equal  the  anticipations  which  were  formed 
of  it ;  but  it  is  not  expected  to  prove  commensurate  with 
all  the  objects  which  have  been  suggested.  Some  auxil 
iary  provisions  will,  therefore,  it  is  presumed,  be  requi 
site  ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  these  may  be  made  consistently 
with  a  due  regard  to  the  convenience  of  our  citizens,  who 
cannot  but  be  sensible  of  the  true  wisdom  of  encounter 
ing  a  small  present  addition  to  their  contributions,  to  ob 
viate  a  future  accumulation  of  burdens. 

But  here  I  cannot  forbear  to  recommend  a  repeal  of 
the  tax  on  the  transportation  of  public  prints.  There  is 
no  resource  so  firm  for  the  government  of  the  United 
States  as  the  affections  of  the  people  guided  by  an  en 
lightened  policy ;  and,  to  this  primary  good,  nothing  can 

VOL.  II.  4 


38  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

conduce  more  than  a  faithful  representation  of  public 
proceedings,  diffused,  without  restraint,  throughout  the 
United  States. 

An  estimate  of  the  appropriations  necessary  for  the  cur 
rent  service  of  the  ensuing  year,  and  a  statement  of  a 
purchase  of  arms  and  military  stores,  made  during  the 
recess,  will  be  presented  to  Congress. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 
The  several  subjects  to  which  I  have  now  referred,  open 
a  wide  range  to  your  deliberations,  and  involve  some  of 
the  choicest  interests  of  our  common  country.  Permit 
me  to  bring  to  your  remembrance  the  magnitude  of  your 
task.  Without  an  unprejudiced  coolness,  the  welfare  of 
the  government  may  be  hazarded ;  without  harmony,  as 
far  as  consists  with  freedom  of  sentiment,  its  dignity 
may  be  lost.  But,  as  the  legislative  proceedings  of  the 
United  States  will  never,  I  trust,  be  reproached  for  the 
want  of  temper  or  of  candor,  so  shall  not  the  public  hap 
piness  languish  for  the  want  of  my  strenuous  and  warmest 
co-operation. 


SPECIAL  MESSAGE 

DECEMBER    5,    1793. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

As  the  present  situation  of  the  several  nations  of  Eu 
rope,  and  especially  of  those  with  which  the  United 
States  have  important  relations,  cannot  but  render  the 
state  of  things  between  them  and  us  matter  of  interesting 
inquiry  to  the  legislature,  and  may  indeed  give  rise  to 
deliberations  to  which  they  alone  are  competent,  I  have 
thought  it  my  duty  to  communicate  to  them  certain  cor 
respondences  which  have  taken  place. 

The  representative  and  executive  bodies  of  France 
have  manifested  generally  a  friendly  attachment  to  this 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE*  39 

country,  have  given  advantages  to  our  commerce  and 
navigation,  and  have  made  overtures  for  placing  these 
advantages  on  permanent  ground.  A  decree,  however,  of 
the  National  Assembly  subjecting  vessels  laden  with  pro 
visions  to  be  carried  into  their  ports,  and  making  enemy 
goods  lawful  prize  in  the  vessels  of  a  friend,  contrary  to 
our  treaty,  though  revoked  at  one  time  as  to  the  United 
States,  has  been  since  extended  to  their  vessels  also,  as 
has  been  recently  stated  to  us.  Representations  on  this 
subject  will  be  immediately  given  in  charge  to  our  minis 
ter  there,  and  the  result  shall  be  communicated  to  the 
legislature. 

It  is  with  extreme  concern  I  have  to  inform  you  that 
the  proceedings  of  the  person  whom  they  have  unfortu 
nately  appointed  their  minister  plenipotentiary  here,  have 
breathed  nothing  of  the  friendly  spirit  of  the  nation  which 
sent  him  ;  their  tendency,  on  the  contrary,  has  been  to 
involve  us  in  war  abroad,  and  discord  and  anarchy  at 
home.  So  far  as  his  acts  or  those  of  his  agents  have 
threatened  our  immediate  commitment  in  the  war,  or 
flagrant  insult  to  the  authority  of  the  laws,  their  effect 
has  been  counteracted  by  the  ordinary  cognizance  of  the 
laws,  and  by  an  exertion  of  the  powers  confided  to  me. 
Where  their  danger  was  not  imminent,  they  have  been 
borne  with  from  sentiments  of  regard  to  his  nation,  from 
a  sense  of  their  friendship  towards  us,  from  a  conviction 
that  they  would  not  suffer  us  to  remain  long  exposed  to 
the  action  of  a  person  who  has  so  little  respected  our  mu 
tual  dispositions,  and  from  a  reliance  on  the  firmness  of 
my  fellow-citizens  in  their  principles  of  peace  and  order. 
In  the  mean  time  I  have  respected  and  pursued  the  stipula 
tions  of  our  treaties,  according  to  what  I  judged  their  true 
sense,  and  have  withheld  no  act  of  friendship  which  their 
affairs  have  called  for  from  us,  and  which  justice  to  others 
left  us  free  to  perform.  I  have  gone  further ;  rather  than 
employ  force  for  the  restitution  of  certain  vessels  which  I 
deemed  the  United  States  bound  to  restore,  I  thought  it 
more  advisable  to  satisfy  the  parties  by  avowing  it  to  be 
my  opinion,  that,  if  restitution  were  not  made,  it  would 
be  incumbent  on  the  United  States  to  make  compensation. 


40  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

The  papers  now  communicated  will  more  particularly  ap 
prise  you  of  these  transactions. 

The  vexations  and  spoliations  understood  to  have  been 
committed  on  our  vessels  and  commerce  by  the  cruisers 
and  officers  of  some  of  the  belligerent  powers,  appeared 
to  require  attention ;  the  proofs  of  these,  however,  not 
having  been  brought  forward,  the  description  of  citizens 
supposed  to  have  suffered  were  notified,  that,  on  furnish 
ing  them  to  the  executive,  due  measures  would  be  taken 
to  obtain  redress  of  the  past,  and  more  effectual  provi 
sions  against  the  future.  Should  such  documents  be  fur 
nished,  proper  representations  will  be  made  thereon,  with 
a  just  reliance  on  a  redress  proportioned  to  the  exigency 
of  the  case. 

The  British  government  having  undertaken,  by  orders 
to  the  commanders  of  their  armed  vessels,  to  restrain 
generally  our  commerce  in  corn  and  other  provisions  to 
their  own  ports,  and  those  of  their  friends,  the  instruc 
tions  now  communicated  were  immediately  forwarded  to 
our  minister  at  that  court.  In  the  mean  time  some  dis 
cussions  on  the  subject  took  place  between  him  and 
them ;  these  are  also  laid  before  you,  and  I  may  expect 
to  learn  the  result  of  his  special  instructions  in  time  to 
make  it  known  to  the  legislature  during  their  present 
session. 

Very  early  after  the  arrival  of  a  British  minister  here, 
mutual  explanations  on  the  inexecution  of  the  treaty  of 
peace  were  entered  into  with  that  minister;  these  are 
now  laid  before  you  for  your  information. 

On  the  subject  of  mutual  interest  between  this  country 
and  Spain,  negotiations  and  conferences  are  now  depend 
ing  ;  the  public  good  requiring  that  the  present  state  of 
these  should  be  made  known  to  the  legislature  in  confi 
dence  only,  they  shall  be  the  subject  of  a  separate  and 
subsequent  communication. 


SIXTH   ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  41 

SIXTH  ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

NOVEMBER  19,  1794. 

Felloio-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

When  we  call  to  mind  the  gracious  indulgence  of  Hea 
ven,  by  which  the  American  people  became  a  nation  ; 
when  we  survey  the  general  prosperity  of  our  country, 
and  look  forward  to  the  riches,  power,  and  happiness,  to 
which  it  seems  destined ;  with  the  deepest  regret  do  I 
announce  to  you  that,  during  your  recess,  some  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  have  been  found  capable  of 
an  insurrection.  It  is  due,  however,  to  the  character  of 
our  government,  and  of  its  stability,  which  cannot  be  sha 
ken  by  the  enemies  of  order>  freely  to  unfold  the  course 
of  this  event. 

During  the  session  of  the  year  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ninety,  it  was  expedient  to  exercise  the  le 
gislative  power,  granted  by  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  "  to  lay  and  collect  excises."  In  a  majority  of  the 
states,  scarcely  an  objection  was  heard  to  this  mode  of 
taxation.  In  some,  indeed,  alarms  were  at  first  conceived, 
until  they  were  banished  by  reason  and  patriotism.  In 
the  four  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  a  prejudice, 
fostered  and  embittered  by  the  artifice  of  men  who  la 
bored  for  an  ascendency  over  the  will  of  others,  by  the 
guidance  of  their  passions,  produced  symptoms  of  riot 
and  violence.  It  is  well  known  that  Congress  did  not 
hesitate  to  examine  the  complaints  which  were  presented  ; 
and  to  relieve  them  as  far  as  justice  dictated,  or  general 
convenience  would  permit.  But  the  impression  which 
this  moderation  made  on  the  discontented,  did  not  corre 
spond  with  what  it  deserved.  The  arts  of  delusion  were 
no  longer  confined  to  the  efforts  of  designing  individuals. 
The  very  forbearance  to  press  prosecution  was  misinter 
preted  into  a  fear  of  urging  the  execution  of  the  laws, 
and  associations  of  men  began  to  denounce  threats 
against  the  officers  employed.  From  a  belief,  that,  by  a 
more  formal  concert,  their  operation  might  be  defeated, 
certain  self-created  societies  assumed  the  tone  of  condem- 
VOL.  n.  4* 


42  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

nation.  Hence,  while  the  greater  part  of  Pennsylvania  it 
self  were  conforming  themselves  to  the  acts  of  excise,  a  few 
counties  were  resolved  to  frustrate  them.  It  was  now  per 
ceived  that  every  expectation  from  the  tenderness  which 
had  been  hitherto  pursued  was  unavailing,  and  that  fur 
ther  delay  could  only  create  an  opinion  of  impotency  or 
irresolution  in  the  government.  Legal  process  was  there 
fore  delivered  to  the  marshal  against  the  rioters  and  de 
linquent  distillers. 

No  sooner  was  he  understood  to  be  engaged  in  this 
duty,  than  the  vengeance  of  armed  men  was  aimed  at  his 
person,  and  the  person  and  property  of  the  inspector  of 
the  revenue.  They  fired  upon  the  marshal,  arrested  him, 
and  detained  him,  for  some  time,  as  a  prisoner.  He  was 
obliged,  by  the  jeopardy  of  his  life,  to  renounce  the  ser 
vice  of  other  process,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Alleghany 
mountain  ;  and  a  deputation  was  afterwards  sent  to  him 
to  demand  a  surrender  of  that  which  he  had  served.  A 
numerous  body  repeatedly  attacked  the  house  of  the  in 
spector,  seized  his  papers  of  office,  and  finally  destroyed 
by  fire  his  buildings,  and  whatsoever  they  contained. 
Both  of  these  officers,  from  a  just  regard  to  their  safety, 
fled  to  the  seat  of  government ;  it  being  avowed  that  the 
motives  to  such  outrages  were  to  compel  the  resignation 
of  the  inspector ;  to  withstand  by  force  of  arms  the  au 
thority  of  the  United  States ;  and  thereby  to  extort  a  re 
peal  of  the  laws  of  excise,  and  an  alteration  in  the  con 
duct  of  government. 

Upon  the  testimony  of  these  facts,  an  associate  justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  notified  to  me 
that,  "  in  the  counties  of  Washington  and  Alleghany,  in 
Pennsylvania,  laws  of  the  United  States  were  opposed, 
and  the  execution  thereof  obstructed,  by  combinations  too 
powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judi 
cial  proceeding,  or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshal 
of  that  district."  On  this  call,  momentous  in  the  ex 
treme,  I  sought  and  weighed  what  might  best  subdue  the 
crisis.  On  the  one  hand,  the  judiciary  was  pronounced 
to  be  stripped  of  its  capacity  to  enforce  the  laws ;  crimes, 
which  reached  the  very  existence  of  social  order,  were 
perpetrated  without  control ;  the  friends  of  government 


SIXTH     ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  43 

were  insulted,  abused,  and  overawed  into  silence,  or  an 
apparent  acquiescence ;  and  to  yield  to  the  treasonable 
fury  of  so  small  a  portion  of  the  United  States  would  be 
to  violate  the  fundamental  principle  of  our  constitution, 
which  enjoins  that  the  will  of  the  majority  shall  prevail. 
On  the  other,  to  array  citizen  against  citizen,  to  publish 
the  dishonor  of  such  excesses,  to  encounter  the  expense 
and  other  embarrassments  of  so  distant  an  expedition, 
were  steps  too  delicate,  too  closely  interwoven  with 
many  affecting  considerations,  to  be  lightly  adopted.  I 
postponed,  therefore,  the  summoning  of  the  militia  imme 
diately  into  the  field  ;  but  I  required  them  to  be  held  in 
readiness,  that,  if  my  anxious  endeavors  to  reclaim  the 
deluded,  and  to  convince  the  malignant  of  their  danger, 
should  be  fruitless,  military  force  might  be  prepared  to 
act  before  the  season  should  be  too  far  advanced. 

My  proclamation  of  the  7th  of  August  last  was  ac 
cordingly  issued,  and  accompanied  by  the  appointment 
of  commissioners,  who  were  charged  to  repair  to  the 
scene  of  insurreciion.  They  were  authorised  to  confer 
with  any  bodies  of  men  or  individuals.  They  were  in 
structed  to  be  candid  and  explicit  in  stating  the  sensations 
which  had  been  excited  in  the  executive,  and  his  earnest 
wish  to  avoid  a  resort  to  coercion  ;  to  represent,  however, 
that,  without  submission,  coercion  must  be  the  resort ;  but 
to  invite  them,  at  the  same  time,  to  return  to  the  demeanor 
of  faithful  citizens,  by  such  accommodations  as  lay  within 
the  sphere  of  executive  power.  Pardon,  too,  was  tendered 
to  them  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  and  that 
of  Pennsylvania,  upon  no  other  condition  than  a  satis 
factory  assurance  of  obedience  to  the  laws. 

Although  the  report  of  the  commissioners  marks  their 
firmness  and  abilities,  and  must  unite  all  virtuous  men, 
by  showing  that  the  means  of  conciliation  have  been 
exhausted,  all  of  those  who  had  committed  or  abetted 
the  tumults  did  not  subscribe  the  mild  form  which  was 
proposed  as  the  atonement ;  and  the  indications  of  ; 
peaceable  temper  were  neither  sufficiently  general  nor 
conclusive  to  recommend  or  warrant  the  further  suspen 
sion  of  the  march  of  the  militia. 

Thus,  the  painful  alternative  could  not  be  discarded. 


44  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

I  ordered  the  militia  to  march,  after  once  more  admonish 
ing  the  insurgents,  in  my  proclamation  on  the  25th  of 
September  last. 

It  was  a  task  too  difficult  to  ascertain  with  precision 
the  lowest  degree  of  force  competent  to  the  quelling  of 
the  insurrection.  From  a  respect,  indeed,  to  economy, 
and  the  ease  of  my  fellow-citizens  belonging  to  the  mili 
tia,  it  would  have  gratified  me  to  accomplish  such  an 
estimate.  My  very  reluctance  to  ascribe  too  much  im 
portance  to  the  opposition,  had  its  extent  been  accurately 
seen,  would  have  been  a  decided  inducement  to  the 
smallest  efficient  number.  In  this  uncertainty,  therefore, 
I  put  into  motion  fifteen  thousand  men,  as  being  an  army 
which,  according  to  all  human  calculations,  would  be 
prompt  and  adequate  in  every  view,  and  might,  perhaps, 
by  rendering  resistance  desperate,  prevent  the  effusion 
of  blood.  Quotas  had  been  assigned  to  the  states  of  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia;  the  go 
vernor  of  Pennsylvania  having  declared,  on  this  occasion, 
an  opinion  which  justified  a  requisition  to  the  other  states. 

As  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia,  when  called  into 
the  actual  service  of  the  United  States,  I  have  visited  the 
places  of  general  rendezvous,  to  obtain  more  exact  infor 
mation,  and  to  direct  a  plan  for  ulterior  movements.  Had 
there  been  room  for  a  persuasion  that  the  laws  were  se 
cure  from  obstruction ;  that  the  civil  magistrate  was  able 
to  bring  to  justice  such  of  the  most  culpable  as  have  not 
embraced  the  proffered  terms  of  amnesty,  and  may  be 
deemed  fit  objects  of  example ;  that  the  friends  to  peace 
and  good  government  were  not  in  need  of  that  aid  and 
countenance  which  they  ought  always  to  receive,  and, 
I  trust,  ever  will  receive,  against  the  vicious  and  turbu 
lent  ;  I  should  have  caught  with  avidity  the  opportunity 
of  restoring  the  militia  to  their  families  and  homes.  But 
succeeding  intelligence  has  tended  to  manifest  the  neces 
sity  of  what  has  been  done ;  it  being  now  confessed  by 
those  who  were  not  inclined  to  exaggerate  the  ill  conduct 
of  the  insurgents,  that  their  malevolence  was  not  pointed 
merely  to  a  particular  law,  but  that  a  spirit,  inimical  to 
all  order,  has  actuated  many  of  the  offenders.  If  the 
state  of  things  had  afforded  reason  for  the  continuance 


SIXTH   ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  45 

of  my  presence  with  the  army,  it  would  not  have  been 
withholden.  But  every  appearance  assuring  such  an  is 
sue  as  will  redound  to  the  reputation  and  strength  of  the 
United  States,  I  have  judged  it  most  proper  to  resume 
my  duties  at  the  seat  of  government,  leaving  the  chief 
command  with  the  governor  of  Virginia. 

Still,  however,  as  it  is  probable  that  in  a  commotion 
like  the  present,  whatsoever  may  be  the  pretence,  the 
purposes  of  mischief  and  revenge  may  not  be  laid  aside, 
the  stationing  of  a  small  force,  for  a  certain  period,  in 
the  four  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania  will  be  indis 
pensable,  whether  we  contemplate  the  situation  of  those 
who  are  connected  with  the  execution  of  the  laws,  or  of 
others  who  may  have  exposed  themselves  by  an  honorable 
attachment  to  them.  Thirty  days  from  the  commence 
ment  of  this  session  being  the  legal  limitation  of  the 
employment  of  the  militia,  Congress  cannot  be  too  early 
occupied  with  this  subject. 

Among  the  discussions  which  may  arise  from  this  as 
pect  of  our  affairs,  and  from  the  documents  which  will 
be  submitted  to  Congress,  it  will  not  escape  their  obser 
vation,  that  not  only  the  inspector  of  the  revenue,  but 
other  officers  of  the  United  States  in  Pennsylvania  have, 
from  their  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  their  functions, 
sustained  material  injuries  to  their  property.  The  obli 
gation  and  policy  of  indemnifying  them  are  strong  and 
obvious.  It  may  also  merit  attention,  whether  policy 
will  not  enlarge  this  provision  to  the  retribution  of  other 
citizens,  who,  though  not  under  the  ties  of  office,  may 
have  suffered  damage  by  their  generous  exertions  for 
upholding  the  constitution  and  the  laws.  The  amount, 
even  if  all  the  injured  were  included,  would  not  be 
great ;  and,  on  future  emergencies,  the  government  would 
be  amply  repaid  by  the  influence  of  an  example  that  he 
who  incurs  a  loss  in  its  defence,  shall  find  a  recompense 
in  its  liberality. 

While  there  is  cause  to  lament  that  occurrences  of 
this  nature  should  have  disgraced  the  name,  or  inter 
rupted  the  tranquillity,  of  any  part  of  our  community, 
or  should  have  diverted,  to  a  new  application,  any  portion 
of  the  public  resources,  there  are  not  wanting  real  and 


46  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

substantial  consolations  for  the  misfortune.  It  has  de 
monstrated  that  our  prosperity  rests  on  solid  foundations, 
by  furnishing  an  additional  proof  that  my  fellow-citizens 
understand  the  true  principles  of  government  and  liberty ; 
that  they  feel  their  inseparable  union ;  that,  notwith 
standing  all  the  devices  which  have  been  used  to  sway 
them  from  their  interest  and  duty,  they  are  now  as  ready 
to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  laws  against  licentious 
invasions,  as  they  were  to  defend  their  rights  against 
usurpation.  It  has  been  a  spectacle,  displaying  to  the 
highest  advantage  the  value  of  republican  government, 
to  behold  the  most  and  the  least  wealthy  of  our  citizens 
standing  in  the  same  ranks  as  private  soldiers,  pre-emi 
nently  distinguished  by  being  the  army  of  the  constitu 
tion;  undeterred  by  a  march  of  three  hundred  miles  over 
rugged  mountains,  by  the  approach  of  an  inclement  sea 
son,  or  by  any  other  discouragement.  Nor  ought  I  to 
omit  to  acknowledge  the  efficacious  and  patriotic  co 
operation  which  I  have  experienced  from  the  chief  ma 
gistrates  of  the  states  to  which  my  requisitions  have  been 
addressed. 

To  every  description  of  citizens,  indeed,  let  praise  be 
given.  But  let  them  persevere  in  their  affectionate  vigi 
lance  over  that  precious  depository  of  American  happi 
ness,  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  Let  them 
cherish  it,  too,  for  the  sake  of  those  who,  from  every 
clime,  are  daily  seeking  a  dwelling  in  our  land.  And 
when,  in  the  calm  moments  of  reflection,  they  shall  have 
retraced  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  insurrection,  let 
them  determine  whether  it  has  not  been  fomented  by 
combinations  of  men,  who,  careless  of  consequences, 
and  disregarding  the  unerring  truth  that  those  who  rouse 
cannot  always  appease  a  civil  convulsion,  have  dissemi 
nated,  from  an  ignorance  or  perversion  of  facts,  suspi 
cions,  jealousies,  and  accusations  of  the  whole  govern 
ment. 

Having  thus  fulfilled  the  engagement  which  I  took, 
when  I  entered  into  office,  "  to  the  best  of  my  ability  to 
preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,"  on  you,  gentlemen,  and  the  people  by 
whom  you  are  deputed,  I  rely  for  support. 


SIXTH    ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  47 

In  the  arrangements  to  which  the  possibility  of  a  simi 
lar  contingency  will  naturally  draw  your  attention,  it 
ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  militia  laws  have  ex 
hibited  such  striking  defects  as  could  not  have  been  sup 
plied  but  by  the  zeal  of  our  citizens.  Besides  the  extra 
ordinary  expense  and  waste,  which  are  not  the  least  of 
the  defects,  every  appeal  to  those  laws  is  attended  with  a 
doubt  on  its  success. 

The  devising  and  establishing  of  a  well-regulated 
militia  would  be  a  genuine  source  of  legislative  honor, 
and  a  perfect  title  to  public  gratitude.  I  therefore  enter 
tain  a  hope  that  the  present  session  will  not  pass  without 
carrying  to  its  full  energy  the  power  of  organizing,  arm 
ing,  and  disciplining  the  militia ;  and  thus  providing,  in 
the  language  of  the  constitution,  for  calling  them  forth 
to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrections, 
and  repel  invasions. 

As  auxiliary  to  the  state  of  our  defence,  to  which 
Congress  can  never  too  frequently  recur,  they  will  not 
omit  to  inquire  whether  the  fortifications  which  have  been 
already  licensed  by  law,  be  commensurate  with  our  exi 
gences. 

The  intelligence  from  the  army  under  the  command 
of  General  Wayne  is  a  happy  presage  to  our  military 
operations  against  the  hostile  Indians  north  of  the  Ohio. 
From  the  advices  which  have  been  forwarded,  the  advance 
which  he  has  made  must  have  damped  the  ardor  of  the 
savages,  and  weakened  their  obstinacy  in  waging  war 
against  the  United  States.  And,  yet,  even  at  this  late  hour, 
when  our  power  to  punish  them  cannot  be  questioned, 
we  shall  not  be  unwilling  to  cement  a  lasting  peace  upon 
terms  of  candor,  equity,  and  good  neighborhood. 

Towards  none  of  the  Indian  tribes  have  overtures  of 
friendship  been  spared.  The  Creeks,  in  particular,  are 
covered  from  encroachment  by  the  interposition  of  the 
general  government,  and  that  of  Georgia.  From  a  de 
sire,  also,  to  remove  the  discontents  of  the  Six  Nations, 
a  settlement  meditated  at  Presque  Isle,  on  Lake  Erie,  has 
been  suspended,  and  an  agent  is  now  endeavoring  to 
rectify  any  misconception  into  which  they  may  have 
fallen.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from  again  pressing  upon 


48  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

your  deliberations  the  plan  which  I  recommended  at  the 
last  session,  for  the  improvement  of  harmony  with  all  the 
Indians  within  our  limits,  by  the  fixing  and  conducting 
of  the  trading  houses  upon  the  principles  then  expressed. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

The  time  which  has  elapsed  since  the  commencement 
of  our  fiscal  measures  has  developed  our  pecuniary  re 
sources,  so  as  to  open  the  way  for  a  definitive  plan  for 
the  redemption  of  the  public  debt.  It  is  believed  that 
the  result  is  such  as  to  encourage  Congress  to  consum 
mate  this  work  without  delay.  Nothing  can  more  pro 
mote  the  permanent  welfare  of  the  nation,  and  nothing 
would  be  more  grateful  to  our  constituents.  Indeed, 
whatsoever  is  unfinished  of  our  system  of  public  credit 
cannot  be  benefited  by  procrastination ;  and,  as  far  as 
may  be  practicable,  we  ought  to  place  that  credit  on 
grounds  which  cannot  be  disturbed,  and  to  prevent  that 
progressive  accumulation  of  debt  which  must  ultimately 
endanger  all  governments. 

An  estimate  of  the  necessary  appropriations,  including 
the  expenditures  into  which  we  have  been  driven  by  the 
insurrection,  will  be  submitted  to  Congress. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

The  mint  of  the  United  States  has  entered  upon  the 
coinage  of  the  precious  metals  ;  and  considerable  sums 
of  defective  coins  and  bullion  have  been  lodged  with  the 
directors  by  individuals.  There  is  a  pleasing  prospect 
that  the  institution  will,  at  no  remote  day,  realize  the 
expectation  which  was  originally  formed  of  its  utility. 

In  subsequent  communications,  certain  circumstances 
of  our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations  will  be  transmit 
ted  to  Congress.  However,  it  may  not  be  unseasonable 
to  announce  that  my  policy  in  our  foreign  transactions 
has  been  to  cultivate  peace  with  all  the  world  ;  to  observe 
treaties  with  pure  and  absolute  faith  ;  to  check  every 
deviation  from  the  line  of  impartiality ;  to  explain  what 
may  have  been  misapprehended,  and  correct  what  may 
have  been  injurious  to  any  nation  ;  and,  having  thus  ac- 


SEVENTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  49 

quired  the  right,  to  lose  no  time  in  acquiring  the  ability, 
to  insist  upon  justice  being  done  to  ourselves. 

Let  us  unite,  therefore,  in  imploring  the  Supreme 
Ruler  of  nations  to  spread  his  holy  protection  over  these 
United  States,  to  turn  the  machinations  of  the  wicked  to 
the  confirming  of  our  constitution ;  to  enable  us,  at  all 
times,  to  root  out  internal  sedition,  and  put  invasion  to 
flight ;  to  perpetuate  to  our  country  that  prosperity  which 
his  goodness  has  already  conferred,  and  to  verify  the  anti 
cipations  of  this  government  being  a  safeguard  to  human 
rights. 

**  **  ®  ^y  9  **  •*  * 

SEVENTH  ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

DECEMBER    8,   1795. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

I  trust  I  do  not  deceive  myself,  while  I  indulge  the 
persuasion  that  I  have  never  met  you  at  any  period,  when, 
more  than  at  the  present,  the  situation  of  our  public 
affairs  has  afforded  just  cause  for  mutual  congratulation, 
and  for  inviting  you  to  join  with  me  in  profound  gratitude 
to  the  Author  of  all  good  for  the  numerous  and  extraor 
dinary  blessings  we  enjoy. 

The  termination  of  the  long,  expensive,  and  distress 
ing  war,  in  which  we  have  been  engaged  with  certain 
Indians  north-west  of  the  Ohio,  is  placed  in  the  option 
of  the  United  States,  by  a  treaty  which  the  commander 
of  our  army  has  concluded,  provisionally,  with  the  hostile 
tribes  in  that  region. 

In  the  adjustment  of  the  terms,  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Indians  was  deemed  an  object  worthy  no  less  of  the 
policy  than  of  the  liberality  of  the  United  States,  as  the 
necessary  basis  of  durable  tranquillity.  This  object,  it 
is  believed,  has  been  fully  attained.  The  articles  agreed 
upon  will  immediately  be  laid  before  the  Senate  for  their 
consideration. 

The  Creek  and  Cherokee  Indians,  who  alone  of  the 

VOL.  II.  5 


50  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

southern  tribes  had  annoyed  our  frontier,  have  lately 
confirmed  their  pre-existing  treaties  with  us,  and  were 
giving  evidence  of  a  sincere  disposition  to  carry  them 
into  effect,  by  the  surrender  of  the  prisoners  and  pro 
perty  they  had  taken ;  but  we  have  to  lament  that  the 
fair  prospect  in  this  quarter  has  been  once  more  clouded 
by  wanton  murders,  which  some  citizens  of  Georgia 
are  represented  to  have  recently  perpetrated  on  hunting 
parties  of  the  Creeks,  which  have  again  subjected  that 
frontier  to  disquietude  and  danger,  which  will  be  pro 
ductive  of  further  expense,  and  may  occasion  more  effu 
sion  of  blood.  Measures  are  pursuing  to  prevent  or 
mitigate  the  usual  consequences  of  such  outrages,  and 
with  the  hope  of  their  succeeding,  at  least  to  avert  gene 
ral  hostility. 

A  letter  from  the  emperor  of  Morocco  announces  to 
me  his  recognition  of  our  treaty  made  with  his  father 
the  late  emperor  ;  and,  consequently,  the  continuance  of 
peace  with  that  power.  With  peculiar  satisfaction  I  add, 
that  information  has  been  received  from  an  agent  depu 
ted  on  our  part  to  Algiers,  importing  that  the  terms  of  a 
treaty  with  the  dey  and  regency  of  that  country  had  been 
adjusted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  authorize  the  expectation 
of  a  speedy  peace  and  the  restoration  of  our  unfortunate 
fellow-citizens  from  a  grievous  captivity. 

The  latest  advices  from  our  envoy  at  the  court  of  Ma 
drid  give,  moreover,  the  pleasing  information  that  he  had 
received  assurances  of  a  speedy  and  satisfactory  conclu 
sion  of  his  negotiation.  While  the  event,  depending 
upon  unadjusted  particulars,  cannot  be  regarded  as  ascer 
tained,  it  is  agreeable  to  cherish  the  expectation  of  an 
issue  which,  securing  amicably  every  essential  interest 
of  the  United  States,  will  at  the  same  time  lay  the  foun 
dation  of  lasting  harmony,  with  a  power  whose  friend 
ship  we  have  uniformly  and  sincerely  desired  to  cultivate. 

Though  not  before  officially  disclosed  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  you,  gentlemen,  are  all  apprised,  that  a 
treaty  of  amity,  commerce  and  navigation  has  been  ne 
gotiated  with  Great  Britain  ;  and  that  the  Senate  have  ad 
vised  and  consented  to  its  ratification,  upon  a  condition 
which  excepts  part  of  one  article.  Agreeably  thereto, 


SEVENTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  51 

and  to  the  best  judgment  I  was  able  to  form  of  the  pub 
lic  interest,  after  full  and  mature  deliberation,  I  have  add 
ed  my  sanction.     The  result,  on  the  part  of  his  Britannic 
majesty,  is  unknown.     When  received,  the  subject  will 
without  delay  be  placed  before  Congress. 

This  interesting  summary  of  our  affairs,  with  regard 
to  foreign  powers,  between  whom  and  the  United  States 
controversies  have  subsisted  ;  and  with,  regard  also  to 
those  of  our  Indian  neighbors  with  whom  we  have 
been  in  a  state  of  enmity  or  misunderstanding,  opens  a 
wide  field  for  consoling  and  gratifying  reflections.  If,  by 
prudence  and  moderation  on  e,very  side,  the  extinguish 
ment  of  all  causes  of  external  discord,  which  have  here 
tofore  menaced  our  tranquillity,  on  terms  compatible  with 
our  national  rights  and  honor,  shall  be  the  happy  result, 
how  firm  and  how  precious  a  foundation  will  have  been 
laid  for  accelerating,  maturing,  and  establishing  the  pros 
perity  of  our  country  ! 

Contemplating  the  internal  situation  as  well  as  the  ex 
ternal  relations  of  the  United  States,  we  discover  equal 
cause  for  contentment  and  satisfaction.  While  many  of 
the  nations  of  Europe,  with  their  American  dependencies, 
have  been  involved  in  a  contest,  unusually  bloody,  exhaust 
ing,  and  calamitous,  in  which  the  evils  of  foreign  war 
have  been  aggravated  by  domestic  convulsion  and  insur 
rection  ;  in  which  many  of  the  arts  most  useful  to  socie 
ty  have  been  exposed  to  discouragement  and  decay;  in 
which  scarcity  of  subsistence  has  embittered  other  suf 
ferings  ;  while  even  the  anticipations  of  a  return  of  the 
blessings  of  peace  and  repose  are  alloyed  by  the  sense  of 
heavy  and  accumulating  burdens  which  press  upon  all  the 
departments  of  industry,  and  threaten  to  clog  the  future 
springs  of  government,  our  favored  country,  happy  in  a 
striking  contrast,  has  enjoyed  general  tranquillity  the 
more  satisfactory,  because  maintained  at  the  expense  of 
no  duty.  Faithful  to  ourselves,  we  have  violated  no  obli 
gation  to  others.  Our  agriculture,  commerce,  and  man 
ufactures  prosper  beyond  example,  the  molestations  of 
our  trade  (to  prevent  a  continuance  of  which,  however, 
very  pointed  remonstrances  have  been  made)  being  over 
balanced  by  the  aggregate  benefits  which  it  derives  from  a 


52  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

neutral  position.  Our  population  advances  with  a  celerity 
which,  exceeding  the  most  sanguine  calculations,  propor 
tionally  augments  our  strength  and  resources,  and  guar 
antees  our  future  security.  Every  part  of  the  Union  dis 
plays  indications  of  rapid  and  various  improvement;  and 
with  burdens  so  light  as  scarcely  to  be  perceived ;  with 
resources  fully  adequate  to  our  present  exigencies ;  with 
governments  founded  on  the  genuine  principles  of  ration 
al  liberty  ;  and  with  mild  and  wholesome  laws,  is  it  too 
much  to  say  that  our  country  exhibits  a  spectacle  of  na 
tional  happiness  never  surpassed,  if  ever  before  equalled  ? 

Placed  in  a  situation  every  way  so  auspicious,  motives 
of  commanding  force  impel  us,  with  sincere  acknow 
ledgment  to  heaven  and  pure  love  to  our  country,  to  unite 
our  efforts  to  preserve,  prolong,  and  improve  our  immense 
advantages.  To  co-operate  with  you  in  this  desirable 
work  is  a  fervent  and  favorite  wish  of  my  heart.  . 

It  is  a  valuable  ingredient  in  the  general  estimate  of 
our  welfare,  that  the  part  of  our  country  which  was  late 
ly  the  scene  of  disorder  and  insurrection,  now  enjoys  the 
blessings  of  quiet  and  order.  The  misled  have  abandon 
ed  their  errors,  and  pay  the  respect  to  our  constitution 
and  laws  which  is  due  from  good  citizens  to  the  public 
authorities  of  the  society.  These  circumstances  have  in 
duced  me  to  pardon,  generally,  the  offenders  here  referred 
to,  and  to  extend  forgiveness  to  those  who  had  been  ad 
judged  to  capital  punishment.  For,  though  I  shall  always 
think  it  a  sacred  duty  to  exercise  with  firmness  and 
energy  the  constitutional  powers  with  which  I  am  vested, 
yet  it  appears  to  me  no  less  consistent  with  the  public 
good  than  it  is  with  my  personal  feelings,  to  mingle,  in 
the  operations  of  government,  every  degree  of  moderation 
and  tenderness  which  the  national  justice,  dignity,  and 
safety  may  permit. 

Gentlemen  : 

Among  the  objects  which  will  claim  your  attention  in 
the  course  of  the  session,  a  review  of  our  military  esta 
blishment  is  not  the  least  important.  It  is  called  for  by 
the  events  which  have  changed,  and  may  be  expected  still 
further  to  change  the  relative  situation  of  our  frontiers. 


SEVENTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  53 

In  this  review,  you  will  doubtless  allow  due  weight  to  the 
considerations  that  the  questions  between  us  and  certain 
foreign  powers  are  not  yet  finally  adjusted  ;  that  the -war 
in  Europe  is  not  yet  terminated ;  and  that  our  western 
posts,  when  recovered,  will  demand  provision  for  garrison 
ing  and  securing  them.  A  statement  of  our  present  mili 
tary  force  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  department  of 
war. 

With  the  review  of  our  army  establishment  is  natural 
ly  connected  that  of  the  militia.  It  will  merit  inquiry, 
what  imperfections  in  the  existing  plan  further  experience 
may  have  unfolded.  The  subject  is  of  so  much  moment 
in  my  estimation  as  to  excite  a  constant  solicitude  that  the 
consideration  of  it  may  be  renewed,  until  the  greatest  at 
tainable  perfection  shall  be  accomplished.  Time  is  wear 
ing  away  some  of  the  advantages  for  forwarding  the  ob 
ject,  while  none  better  deserves  the  persevering  attention 
of  the  public  councils. 

While  we  indulge  the  satisfaction  which  the  actual 
condition  of  our  western  borders  so  well  authorises,  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  not  lose  sight  of  an  important 
truth  which  continually  receives  new  confirmations,  name 
ly,  that  the  provisions  heretofore  made  with  a  view  to  the 
protection  of  the  Indians  from  the  violence  of  the  lawless 
part  of  our  frontier  inhabitants  are  insufficient.  It  is  de 
monstrated  that  these  violences  can  now  be  perpetrated 
with  impunity  ;  and  it  can  need  no  argument  to  prove, 
that,  unless  the  murdering  of  Indians  can  be  restrained 
by  bringing  the  murderers  to  condign  punishment,  all  the 
exertions  of  the  government  to  prevent  destructive  re 
taliations  by  the  Indians  will  prove  fruitless,  and  all  our 
present  agreeable  propects  illusory.  The  frequent  de 
struction  of  innocent  women  and  children,  who  are  chiefly 
he  victims  of  retaliation,  must  continue  to  shock  huma 
nity  :  and  an  enormous  expense  to  drain  the  treasury  of 
the  Union. 

To  enforce  upon  the  Indians  the  observance  of  justice, 
it  is  indispensable  that  there  shall  be  competent  means  of 
rendering  justice  to  them.  If  these  means  can  be  de« 
vised  by  the  wisdom  of  Congress,  and  especially  if  there 
c-an  be  added  an  adequate  provision  for  supplying  the  ne~ 

VOL,  II.  5* 


54  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

cessities  of  the  Indians  on  reasonable  terms,  (a  measure 
the  mention  of  which  I  the  more  readily  repeat,  as  in  all 
the  conferences  with  them  they  urge  it  with  solicitude,)  I 
should  not  hesitate  to  entertain  a  strong  hope  of  render 
ing  our  tranquillity  permanent.  I  add,  with  pleasure,  that 
the  probability  even  of  their  civilization  is  not  diminished 
by  the  experiments  which  have  been  thus  far  made  under 
the  auspices  of  government.  The  accomplishment  of 
this  work,  if  practicable,  will  reflect  undecaying  lustre  on 
our  national  character,  and  administer  the  most  grateful 
consolations  that  virtuous  minds  can  know. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

The  state  of  our  revenue,  with  the  sums  which  have 
been  borrowed  and  reimbursed,  pursuant  to  different  acts 
of  Congress,  will  be  submitted  from  the  proper  depart 
ment,  together  with  an  estimate  of  the  appropriations  ne 
cessary  to  be  made  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing  year. 

Whether  measures  may  not  be  advisable  to  reinforce 
the  provision  for  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt,  will 
naturally  engage  your  examination.  Congress  have  de 
monstrated  their  sense  to  be,  and  it  were  superfluous  to 
repeat  mine,  that  whatsoever  will  tend  to  accelerate  the 
honorable  extinction  of  our  public  debt,  accords  as  much 
with  the  true  interest  of  our  country  as  with  the  general 
sense  of  our  constituents. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

The  statements  which  will  be  laid  before  you  relative 
to  the  mint,  will  show  the  situation  of  that  institution, 
and  the  necessity  of  some  further  legislative  provisions 
for  carrying  the  business  of  it  more  completely  into  ef 
fect,  and  for  checking  abuses  which  appear  to  be  arising 
in  particular  quarters. 

The  progress  in  providing  materials  for  the  frigates, 
and  in  building  them ;  the  state  of  the  fortifications  of 
our  harbors  ;  the  measures  which  have  been  pursued  for 
obtaining  proper  sites  for  arsenals,  and  for  replenishing 
our  magazines  with  military  stores,  and  the  steps  which 
hare  been  taken  towards  the  execution  of  the  law  for 


EIGHTH    AHNUAL    ADDRESS.  55 

opening  a  trade  with  the  Indians,  will  likewise  be  pre 
sented  for  the  information  of  Congress. 

Temperate  discussion  of  the  important  subjects  which 
may  arise  in  the  course  of  the  session,  and  mutual  for 
bearance  where  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion,  are  too 
obvious  and  necessary  for  the  peace,  happiness,  and  wel 
fare  of  our  country  to  need  any  recommendation  of  mine. 


EIGHTH  ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

DECEMBER  7,  1796. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

In  recurring  to  the  internal  situation  of  our  country 
since  I  had  last  the  pleasure  to  address  you,  I  find  ample 
reason  for  a  renewed  expression  of  that  gratitude  to  the 
Ruler  of  the  universe,  which  a  continued  series  of  pros 
perity  has  so  often  and  so  justly  called  forth. 

The  acts  of  the  last  session,  which  required  special  ar 
rangements,  have  been,  as  far  as  circumstances  would  ad 
mit,  carried  into  operation. 

Measures  calculated  to  insure  a  continuance  of  the 
friendship  of  the  Indians,  and  to  preserve  peace  along  the 
extent  of  our  interior  frontier,  have  been  digested  and 
adopted.  In  the  framing  of  these,  care  has  been  taken 
to  guard,  on  the  one  hand,  our  advanced  settlements  from 
the  predatory  incursions  of  those  unruly  individuals,  who 
cannot  be  restrained  by  their  tribes ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  protect  the  rights  secured  to  the  Indians  by 
treaty ;  to  draw  them  nearer  to  the  civilized  state,  and 
inspire  them  with  correct  conceptions  of  the  power,  as 
well  as  justice,  of  the  government. 

The  meeting  of  the  deputies  from  the  Creek  nation  at 
Colerain,  in  the  state  of  Georgia,  which  had  for  a  princi 
pal  object,  the  purchase  of  a  parcel  of  their  land  by  that 
state,  broke  up  without  its  being  accomplished ;  the  na 
tion  having,  previous  to  their  departure,  instructed  them 
against  making  any  sale  ;  the  occasion,  however,  has  been 


•56  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

improved,  to  confirm,  by  a  new  treaty  with  the  Creeks, 
their  pre-existing  engagements  with  the  United  States, 
and  to  obtain  their  consent  to  the  establishment  of  tra 
ding-houses  and  military  posts  within  their  boundary  ;  by 
means  of  which,  their  friendship  and  the  general  peace 
may  be  more  effectually  secured. 

The  period  during  the  late  session  at  which  the  appro 
priation  was  passed  for  carrying  into  effect  the  treaty  of 
amity,  commerce,  and  navigation  between  the  United 
States  and  his  Britannic  majesty,  necessarily  procrastina 
ted  the  reception  of  the  posts  stipulated  to  be  delivered, 
beyond  the  date  assigned  for  that  event.  As  soon,  how 
ever,  as  the  Governor-general  of  Canada  could  be  ad 
dressed  with  propriety  on  the  subject,  arrangements  were 
cordially  and  promptly  concluded  for  their  evacuation, 
and  the  United  States  took  possession  of  the  principal  of 
them,  comprehending  Oswego,  Niagara,  Detroit,  Michili- 
mackinac,  and  Fort  Miami,  where  such  repairs  and  ad 
ditions  have  been  ordered  to  be  made  as  appeared  indis 
pensable. 

The  commissioners  appointed  on  the  part  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  and  of  Great  Britain  to  determine  which  is 
the  river  St.  Croix,  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  peace  of 
1783,  agreed  in  the  choice  of  Egbert  Benson,  Esq.,  of 
New  York,  for  the  third  commissioner.  The  whole  met 
at  St.  Andrews,  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  in  the  beginning 
of  October,  and  directed  surveys  to  be  made  of  the  rivers 
in  dispute ;  but  deeming  it  impracticable  to  have  these 
surveys  completed  before  the  next  year,  they  adjourned, 
to  meet  at  Boston,  in  August,  1797,  for  the  final  decision 
of  the  question. 

Other  commissioners  appointed  on  the  part  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  agreeably  to  the  seventh  article  of  the  treaty 
with  Great  Britain,  relative  to  captures  and  condemna 
tion  of  vessels  and  other  property,  met  the  commissioners 
of  his  Britannic  majesty  in  London,  in  August  last,  when 
John  Trumbull,  Esq.,  was  chosen  by  lot  for  the  fifth 
commissioner.  In  October  following,  the  board  were  to 
proceed  to  business.  As  yet,  there  has  been  no  commu 
nication  of  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain, 
to  unite  with  those  who  had  been  appointed  on  the  part 


EIGHTH   ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  57 

of  the  United  States  for  carrying  into  effect  the  sixth  ar 
ticle  of  the  treaty. 

The  treaty  with  Spain  required  that  the  commissioners 
for  running  the  boundary  line  between  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  and  his  Catholic  majesty's  provinces  of  East 
and  West  Florida,  should  meet  at  the  Natchez,  before  the 
expiration  of  six  months  after  the  exchange  of  the  ratifica 
tions,  which  was  effected  at  Aranjuez  on  the  25th  day  of 
April,  and  the  troops  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  occupying 
any  posts  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  were,  with 
in  the  same  period,  to  be  withdrawn.  The  commissioner 
of  the  United  States,  therefore,  commenced  his  journey  for 
the  Natchez  in  September,  and  troops  were  ordered  to 
occupy  the  posts  from  which  the  Spanish  garrison  should 
be  withdrawn.  Information  has  been  recently  received 
of  the  appointment  of  a  commissioner  on  the  part  of  his 
Catholic  majesty  for  running  the  boundary  line ;  but 
none  of  any  appointment  for  the  adjustment  of  the  claims 
of  our  citizens  whose  vessels  were  captured  by  the  armed 
vessels  of  Spain. 

In  pursuance  of  the  act  of  Congress,  passed  in  the  last 
session,  for  the  protection  and  relief  of  American  sea 
men,  agents  were  appointed,  one  to  reside  in  Great  Bri 
tain,  and  the  other  in  the  West  Indies.  The  effects  of 
the  agency  in  the  West  Indies  are  not  yet  fully  ascer 
tained  ;  but  those  which  have  been  communicated  afford 
grounds  to  believe  the  measure  will  be  beneficial.  The 
agent  destined  to  reside  in  Great  Britain  declining  to  ac 
cept  the  appointment,  the  business  has  consequently  de 
volved  on  the  minister  of  the  United  States  in  London, 
and  will  command  his  attention  until  anew  agent  shall  be 
appointed. 

After  many  delays  and  disappointments,  arising  out  of 
the  European  war,  the  final  arrangements  for  fulfilling  the 
engagements  made  to  the  dey  and  regency  of  Algiers 
will,  in  all  present  appearance,  be  crowned  with  success, 
but  under  great,  though  inevitable,  disadvantages  in  the 
pecuniary  transactions  occasioned  by  that  war,  which 
will  render  further  provision  necessary.  The  actual  libe 
ration  of  all  our  citizens  who  were  prisoners  in  Algiers, 
while  it  gratifies  every  feeling  heart,  is,  itself,  an  earnest 


68  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  a  satisfactory  termination  of  the  whole  negotiation. 
Measures  are  in  operation  for  effecting  treaties  with  the 
regencies  of  Tunis  and  Tripoli. 

To  an  active  external  commerce  the  protection  of  a 
naval  force  is  indispensable.  But,  besides  this,  it  is  in 
our  own  experience  that  the  most  sincere  neutrality  is  not 
a  sufficient  guard  against  the  depredations  of  nations  at 
war.  To  secure  respect  to  a  neutral  flag,  requires  a  na 
val  force,  organized  and  ready  to  vindicate  it  from  insult 
or  aggression.  This  may  even  prevent  the  necessity  of 
going  to  war,  by  discouraging  belligerent  powers  from 
committing  such  violations  of  the  rights  of  the  neutral 
party  as  may,  first  or  last,  leave  no  other  option.  From 
the  best  information  I  have  been  able  to  obtain,  it  would 
seem  as  if  our  trade  to  the  Mediterranean,  without  a  pro 
tecting  force,  will  always  be  insecure,  and  our  citizens 
exposed  to  the  calamities  from  which  numbers  of  them 
have  just  been  relieved. 

These  considerations  invite  the  United  States  to  look 
to  the  means,  and  to  set  about  the  gradual  creation  of  a 
navy.  The  increasing  progress  of  their  navigation  pro 
mises  them,  at  no  distant  period,  the  requisite  supply  of 
seamen ;  and  their  means,  in  other  respects,  favor  the 
undertaking.  It  is  an  encouragement,  likewise,  that  their 
particular  situation  will  give  weight  and  influence  to  a 
moderate  naval  force  in  their  hands.  Will  if  not,  then, 
be  advisable  to  begin,  without  delay,  to  provide  and  lay 
'up  the  materials  for  the  building  and  equipping  of 
ships  of  war,  and  to  proceed  in  the  work  by  degrees,  in 
proportion  as  our  resources  shall  render  it  practicable 
without  inconvenience,  so  that  a  future  war  of  Europe 
may  not  find  our  commerce  in  the  same  unprotected  state 
in  which  it  was  found  by  the  present  ? 

Congress  have  repeatedly,  and  not  without  success,  di 
rected  their  attention  to  the  encouragement  of  manufac 
tures.  The  object  is  of  too  much  consequence  not  to 
insure  a  continuance  of  their  efforts  in  every  way  which 
shall  appear  eligible.  As  a  general  rule,  manufactures 
on  public  account  are  inexpedient;  but  where  the 
Btate  of  things  in  a  country  leaves  little  hope  that  certain 
branches  of  manufacture  will,  for  a  great  length  of  time, 


EIGHTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  59 

obtain ;  when  these  are  of  a  nature  essential  to  the  fur 
nishing  and  equipping  of  the  public  force,  in  time  of  war, 
are  not  establishments  for  procuring  them  on  public  ac 
count,  to  the  extent  of  the  ordinary  demand  for  the  public 
service,  recommended  by  strong  considerations  of  nation 
al  policy  as  an  exception  to  the  general  rule?  Ought  our 
country  to  remain  in  such  cases  dependent  on  foreign 
supply,  precarious,  because  liable  to  be  interrupted?  If 
the  necessary  article  should,  in  this  mode,  cost  more  in 
time  of  peace,  will  not  the  security  and  independence 
thence  arising  form  an  ample  compensation  1  Establish 
ments  of  this  sort,  commensurate  only  with  the  calls  of 
the  public  service  in  time  of  peace,  will,  in  time  of  war, 
easily  be  extended  in  proportion  to  the  exigences  of  the 
government,  and  may  even  perhaps  be  made  to  yield  a 
surplus  for  the  supply  of  our  citizens  at  large,  so  as  to 
mitigate  the  privation  from  the  interruption  of  their  trade. 
If  adopted,  the  plan  ought  to  exclude  all  those  branches 
which  are  already,  or  likely  soon  to  be,  established  in  the 
country,  in  order  that  there  may  be  no  danger  of  inter 
ference  with  pursuits  of  individual  industry. 

It  will  not  be  doubted  that,  with  reference  either  to  in 
dividual  or  national  welfare,  agriculture  is  of  primary 
importance.  In  proportion  as  nations  advance  in  popula 
tion  and  other  circumstances  of  maturity,  this  truth  be 
comes  more  apparent,  and  renders  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  more  and  more  an  object  of  public  patronage.  Insti 
tutions  for  promoting  it  grow  up,  supported  by  the  public 
purse.  Among  the  means  which  have  been  employed  to 
this  end,  none  have  been  attended  with  greater  success 
than  the  establishment  of  boards,  composed  of  proper 
characters,  charged  with  collecting  and  diffusing  informa 
tion,  and  enabled  by  premiums  and  small  pecuniary  aids 
to  encourage  and  assist  a  spirit  of  discovery  and  improve 
ment.  This  species  of  establishment  contributes  doubly 
to  the  increase  of  improvement,  by  stimulating  to  enter 
prise  and  experiment,  and  by  drawing  to  a  common 
centre  the  results,  every  where,  of  individual  skill  and 
observation,  and  spreading  them  thence  over  the  whole 
nation.  Experience,  accordingly,  has  shown  that  they 
are  very  cheap  instruments  of  immense  national  benefits. 


60  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

I  have  heretofore  proposed  to  the  consideration  of  Con 
gress  the  expediency  of  establishing  a  national  university, 
and  also  a  military  academy.  The  desirableness  of  both 
these  institutions  has  so  constantly  increased  with  every 
new  view  I  have  taken  of  the  subject,  that  I  cannot  omit 
the  opportunity,  once  for  all,  of  recalling  your  attention 
to  them. 

The  assembly  to  which  I  address  myself  is  too  enlight 
ened  not  to  be  fully  sensible  how  much  a  flourishing  state 
of  the  arts  and  sciences  contributes  to  national  prosperi 
ty  and  reputation. 

True  it  is  that  our  country,  much  to  its  honor,  contains 
many  seminaries  of  learning,  highly  respectable  and  use 
ful  ;  but  the  funds  upon  which  they  rest  are  too  narrow 
to  command  the  ablest  professors  in  the  different  depart 
ments  of  liberal  knowledge,  for  the  institution  contem 
plated,  though  they  would  be  excellent  auxiliaries. 

Amongst  the  motives  to  such  an  institution,  the  assimi 
lation  of  the  principles,  opinions  and  manners  of  our 
countrymen,  by  the  common  education  of  a  portion  of 
our  youth,  from  every  quarter,  well  deserves  attention. 
The  more  homogeneous  our  citizens  can  be  made  in  these 
particulars,  the  greater  will  be  our  prospect  of  permanent 
union  ;  and  a  primary  object  of  such  a  national  institu 
tion  should  be  the  education  of  our  youth  in  the  science 
of  government.  In  a  republic,  what  species  of  knowledge 
can  be  equally  important?  and  what  duty  more  pressing 
on  its  legislature  than  to  patronize  a  plan  for  communi 
cating  it  to  those  who  are  to  be  the  future  guardians  of 
the  liberties  of  the  country  ? 

The  institution  of  a  military  academy  is  also  recom 
mended  by  cogent  reasons.  However  pacific  the  general 
policy  of  a  nation  may  be,  it  ought  never  to  be  without 
an  adequate  stock  of  military  knowledge  for  emergencies. 
The  first  would  impair  the  energy  of  its  character,  and 
both  would  hazard  its  safety,  or  expose  it  to  greater  evils, 
when  war  could  not  be  avoided.  Besides,  that  war  might 
often  not  depend  upon  its  own  choice.  In  proportion  as 
the  observance  of  pacific  maxims  might  exempt  a  nation 
from  the  necessity  of  practising  the  rules  of  the  military 
art,  ought  to  be  its  care  in  preserving  and  transmitting, 


EIGHTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  61 

by  proper  establishments,  the  knowledge  of  that  art. 
Whatever  argument  may  be  drawn  from  particular  exam 
ples,  superficially  viewed,  a  thorough  examination  of  the 
subject  will  evince  that  the  art  of  war  is  at  once  compre 
hensive  and  complicated;  that  it  demands  much  previous 
study  ;  and  that  the  possession  of  it  in  its  most  improved 
and  perfect  state,  is  always  of  great  moment  to  the  secu 
rity  of  a  nation.  This,  therefore,  ought  to  be  a  serious 
care  of  every  government ;  and  for  this  purpose  an  aca 
demy,  where  a  regular  course  of  instruction  is  given,  is 
an  obvious  expedient,  which  different  nations  have  suc 
cessfully  employed. 

The  compensations  to  the  officers  of  the  United  States, 
in  various  instances,  and  in  none  more  than  in  respect  to 
the  most  important  stations,  appear  to  call  for  legislative 
revision.  The  consequences  of  a  defective  provision  are 
of  serious  import  to  the  government.  If  private  wealth 
is  to  supply  the  defect  of  public  retribution,  it  will  great 
ly  contract  the  sphere  within  which  the  selection  of  cha 
racter  for  office  is  to  be  made  ;  and  will,  proportionally, 
diminish  the  probability  of  a  choice  of  men,  able  as  well 
as  upright.  Besides,  that  it  would  be  repugn  ant  to  the  vital 
principles  of  our  government,  virtually  to  exclude  from 
public  trusts,  talents  and  virtue,  unless  accompanied  by 
wealth. 

While,  in  our  external  relations,  some  serious  incon 
veniences  and  embarrassments  have  been  overcome,  and 
others  lessened,  it  is  with  much  pain  and  deep  regret  I 
mention  that  circumstances  of  a  very  unwelcome  nature 
have  lately  occurred.  Our  trade  has  suffered  and  is  suf 
fering  extensive  injuries  in  the  West  Indies,  from  the 
cruisers  and  agents  of  the  French  republic ;  and  com 
munications  have  been  received  from  its  minister  here, 
which  indicate  the  danger  of  a  further  disturbance  of  our 
commerce  by  its  authority  ;  and  which  are,  in  other  re 
spects,  far  from  agreeable. 

It  has  been  my  constant,  sincere,  and  earnest  wish,  in 
conformity  with  that  of  our  nation,  to  maintain  cordial 
harmony,  and  a  perfect  friendly  understanding  with 
that  republic.  This  wish  remains  unabated  ;  and  I  shall 
persevere  in  the  endeavor  to  fulfil  it  to  the  utmost  extent 

VOL.  II.  6 


62  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

of  what  shall  be  consistent  with  a  just  and  indispensable 
regard  to  the  rights  and  honor  of  our  country ;  nor  will  I 
easily  cease  to  cherish  the  expectation  that  a  spirit  of  jus 
tice,  candor,  and  friendship,  on  the  part  of  the  republic, 
will  eventually  insure  success. 

In  pursuing  this  course,  however,  I  cannot  forget  what 
is  due  to  the  character  of  our  government  and  nation,  or 
to  a  full  and  entire  confidence  in  the  good  sense,  patriot 
ism,  self-respect,  and  fortitude  of  my  countrymen. 

I  reserve  for  a  special  message  a  more  particular  com 
munication  on  this  interesting  subject. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  have  directed  an  estimate  of  the  appropriations,  neces 
sary  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing  year,  to  be  submitted 
from  the  proper  department,  with  a  view  of  the  public 
receipts  and  expenditures  to  the  latest  period  to  which  an 
account  can  be  prepared. 

It  is  with  satisfaction  I  am  able  to  inform  you,  that  the 
revenues  of  the  United  States  continue  in  a  state  of  pro 
gressive  improvement. 

A  reinforcement  of  the  existing  provisions  for  dischar 
ging  our  public  debt  was  mentioned  in  my  address  at  the 
opening  of  the  last  session.  Some  preliminary  steps 
were  taken  towards  it,  the  maturing  of  which  will,  no 
doubt,  engage  your  zealous  attention  during  the  present 
session.  I  will  only  add,  that  it  will  afford  me  a  heart-felt 
satisfaction  to  concur  in  such  further  measures  as  will  as 
certain  to  our  country  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  extinguish 
ment  of  the  debt.  Posterity  may  have  cause  to  regret  if, 
from  any  motive,  intervals  of  tranquillity  are  left  unim 
proved  for  accelerating  this  valuable  end. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

My  solicitude  to  see  the  militia  of  the  United  States 
placed  on  an  efficient  establishment  has  been  so  often  and 
so  ardently  expressed,  that  I  shall  but  barely  recall  the 
eubject  to  your  view  on  the  present  occasion ;  at  the  same 
time  that  I  shall  submit  to  your  inquiry,  whether  our  ha»- 
bors  are  yet  sufficiently  secured. 


PROCLAMATION.  63 

The  situation  in  which  I  now  stand,  for  the  last  time, 
in  the  midst  of  the  Representatives  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  naturally  recalls  the  period  when  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  present  form  of  government  com 
menced  ;  and  I  cannot  omit  the  occasion  to  congratulate 
you  and  my  country  on  the  success  of  the  experiment  ; 
nor  to  repeat  my  fervent  supplications  to  the  Supreme  Ru 
ler  of  the  universe  and  sovereign  Arbiter  of  nations,  that 
his  providential  care  may  still  be  extended  to  the  United 
States  ;  that  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  the  people  may 
be  preserved  ;  and  that  the  government  which  they  have 
instituted  for  the  protection  of  their  liberties  may  be 
perpetual. 


PROCLAMATION, 
APRIL  22,  1793.  ' 

Whereas,  it  appears  that  a  state  of  war  exists  between 
Austria,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United 
Netherland  of  the  one  part,  and  France  on  the  other  — 
and  the  duty  and  interests  of  the  United  States  require 
that  they  should  with  sincerity  and  good  faith  adopt  and 
pursue  a  conduct  friendly  and  impartial  towards  the  belli 
gerent  powers. 

I  have  therefore  thought  fit,  by  these  presents,  to  declare 
the  disposition  of  the  United  States  to  observe  the  con 
duct  aforesaid  towards  those  powers  respectively  ;  and  to 
exhort  and  warn  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  careful 
ly  to  avoid  all  acts  and  proceedings  whatsoever,  which 
may,  in  any  manner,  tend  to  contravene  such  disposition. 

And  I  do  hereby  also  make  known,  that  whosoever  of 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall  render  himself  lia 
ble  to  punishment  or  forfeiture  under  the  law  of  nations, 
by  committing,  aiding,  or  abetting  hostilities  against  any 
of  the  said  powers,  or  by  carrying  to  any  of  them  those 
articles  which  are  deemed  contraband  by  the  modern 
usage  of  nations,  will  not  receive  the  protection  of  the 
United  States  against  such  punishment  of  forfeiture  ;  and 


Ci  THE    TRUE   AMERICAN. 

further,  that  I  have  given  instructions  to  those  officers,  to 
whom  it  belongs,  to  cause  prosecutions  to  be  instituted 
against  all  persons  who  shall,  within  the  cognizance  of  the 
eourts  of  the  United  States,  violate  the  laws  of  nations, 
with  respect  to  the  powers  at  war,  or  any  of  them. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  caused  the  seal  of  the 
United  States  of  America  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents, 
and  signed  the  same  with  my  hand.  Done  at  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  the  22d  day  of  April,  one  thousand,  seven 
hundred  and  ninety-three,  and  of  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America  the  seventeenth. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


PROCLAMATION, 
AUGUST  7,  1794. 

Whereas  combinations  to  defeat  the  execution  of  the 
laws  laying  duties  upon  spirits  distilled  within  the  United 
States,  and  upon  stills,  have  from  the  time  of  the  com 
mencement  of  those  laws  existed  in  some  of  the  western 
parts  of  Pennsylvania  :  And  whereas  the  said  combina 
tions,  proceeding  in  a  manner  subversive  equally  of  the 
just  authority  of  government  and  of  the  rights  of  indi 
viduals,  have  hitherto  effected  their  dangerous  and  crimi 
nal  purpose  by  the  influence  of  certain  irregular  meet 
ings,  whose  proceedings  have  tended  to  encourage  and 
uphold  the  spirit  of  opposition  by  misrepresentations  of 
the  laws  calculated  to  render  them  odious  ;  by  endeavors 
to  deter  those,  who  might  be  so  disposed,  from  accepting 
offices  under  them,  through  fear  of  public  resentments 
and  of  injury  to  person  and  property  —  and  to  compel 
those  who  had  accepted  such  offices  by  actual  violence 
to  surrender  or  forbear  the  execution  of  them  ;  by  circu 
lating  vindictive  measures  against  all  who  should  other 
wise  directly  or  indirectly  aid  in  the  execution  of  the 
said  laws,  or  who,  yielding  to  the  dictates  of  conscience 
and  to  a  sense  of  obligation,  should  themselves  comply 
therewith,  by  actually  injuring  and  destroying  the  pro- 


PROCLAMATION.  65 

perty  of  persons  who  were  understood  to  have  so  com 
plied;  by  inflicting  cruel,  humiliating  punishments  upon 
private  citizens  for  no  other  cause  than  that  of  appearing 
to  be  the  friends  of  the  laws;  by  interrupting  the  public 
officers  on  the  highways,  abusing,  assaulting,  and  other 
wise  ill  treating  them  ;  by  going  to  their  houses  in  the 
night,  gaining  admittance  by  force,  taking  away  their 
papers,  and  committing  other  outrages ;  employing  for 
these  unwarrantable  purposes  the  agency  of  armed  ban 
ditti,  disguised  in  such  a  manner  as  for  the  most  part  to 
escape  discovery ;  and  whereas  the  endeavors  of  the 
legislature  to  obviate  objections  to  the  said  laws  by  low 
ering  the  duties,  and  by  other  alterations  conducive  to 
the  convenience  of  those  whom  they  immediately  affect 
ed,  (though  they  have  given  satisfaction  in  other  quar 
ters,)  and  the  endeavors  of  the  executive  officers  to  con 
ciliate  a  compliance  with  the  laws  by  expostulation,  by 
forbearance,  and  even  by  recommendations  founded  on 
the  suggestion  of  local  considerations,  have  been  disap 
pointed  of  their  effect  by  the  machinations  of  persons 
whose  industry  to  excite  resistance  has  increased  with  the 
appearance  of  a  disposition  among  the  people  to  relax  in 
their  opposition  and  to  acquiesce  in  the  laws;  insomuch 
that  many  persons  in  the  said  western  parts  of  Pennsyl 
vania  have  been  hardy  enough  to  perpetrate  acts  which  I 
am  advised  amount  to  treason,  being  overt  acts  of  levying 
war  against  the  United  States ;  the  said  persons,  having, 
on  the  16th  and  17th  of  July  last,  proceeded  in  arms 
(on  the  second  day  amounting  to  several  hundred)  to  the 
house  of  John  Neville,  inspector  of  the  revenues  for  the 
fourth  survey  of  the  districts  of  Pennsylvania,  having 
repeatedly  attacked  the  said  house  with  the  persons 
therein,  wounding  some  of  them  ;  having  seized  David 
Lennox,  marshal  of  the  district  of  Pennsylvania,  who 
previously  thereto  had  been  fired  upon  while  in  the  exe 
cution  of  his  duty  by  a  party  of  men  detaining  him  for 
some  time  prisoner,  till,  for  the  preservation  of  his  life 
and  obtaining  of  his  liberty,  he  found  it  necessary  to 
enter  into  stipulations  to  forbear  the  execution  of  certain 
official  duties  touching  processes  issuing  out  of  a  court 
of  the  United  States — and  having  finally  obliged  the  said 
VOL.  u.  6* 


66  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

inspector  of  the  revenue  and  the  marshal,  from  consider 
ations  of  personal  safety,  to  fly  from  this  part  of  the 
country,  in  order  by  a  circuitous  route  to  proceed  to  the 
seat  of  government;  avowing,  as  the  motives  of  these 
outrageous  proceedings,  an  intention  to  prevent  by  force 
of  arms  the  execution  of  the  said  laws,  to  oblige  the  said 
inspector  of  the  revenue  to  renounce  his  office,  to  with 
stand  by  open  violence  the  lawful  authority  of  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  and  to  compel  thereby  an 
alteration  in  the  measures  of  the  legislature,  and  a  repeal 
of  the  laws  aforesaid : — And  whereas,  by  a  law  of  the 
United  States,  entitled  "  An  act  to  provide  for  calling 
forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  sup 
press  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions,"  it  is  enacted, 
"that  whenever  the  laws  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
opposed  or  the  execution  thereof  obstructed  in  any  state 
by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the 
ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings  or  by  the  powers 
vested  in  the  marshals  by  that  act,  the  same  being  noti 
fied  by  an  associate  justice  or  the  district  judges,  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  call 
forth  the  militia  of  said  state  to  suppress  such  combina 
tions,  and  to  cause  the  laws  to  be  duly  executed.  *  And 
if  the  militia  of  a  state  where  such  combinations  may 
happen,  shall  refuse  or  shall  be  insufficient  to  suppress 
the  same,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President,  if  the  legis 
lature  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  in  session,  to  call 
forth  and  employ  such  numbers  of  the  militia  of  any 
other  state  or  states  most  convenient  thereto  as  may  be 
necessary,  and  the  use  of  the  militia  so  to  be  called  forth 
may  be  continued,  if  necessary,  until  the  expiration  of 
thirty  days  after  the  commencement  of  the  ensuing  ses 
sion.  Provided  always,  that  whenever  it  may  be  neces 
sary  in  the  judgment  of  the  President  to  use  the  military 
force,  hereby  directed  to  be  called  forth,  the  President 
shall  forthwith,  and  previous  thereto,  by  proclamation, 
command  such  insurgents  to  disperse,  retire  peaceably  to 
their  respective  abodes  within  a  limited  time  :"— And 
whereas  James  Wilson,  an  associate  justice,  on  the  fourth 
instant,  by  writing  under  his  hand,  did,  from  evidence 
which  had  been  laid  before  him,  notify  to  me  that  "  in 


PROCLAMATION.  67 

the  counties  of  Washington  and  Alleghany,  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  are  opposed,  and  the 
execution  thereof  obstructed  by  combinations  too  power 
ful  to  be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial 
proceedings,  or  by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshal  of 
that  district." 

And  whereas  it  is  in  my  judgment  necessary,  under  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  to  take  measures  for  calling 
forth  the  militia,  in  order  to  suppress  the  combination 
aforesaid,  and  to  cause  the  laws  to  be  duly  executed, 
I  have  accordingly  determined  so  to  do,  feeling  the  deep 
est  regret  for  the  occasion,  but  withal  the  most  solemn 
conviction  that  the  essential  interests  of  the  Union  de 
mand  it,  that  the  very  existence  of  government  and  the 
fundamental  principles  of  social  order  are  materially 
involved  in  the  issue,  and  that  the  patriotism  and  firmness 
of  all  good  citizens  are  seriously  called  upon,  as  occasion 
may  require,  to  aid  in  the  effectual  suppression  of  so  fatal 
a  spirit. 

Wherefore,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  provision  above 
recited,  I,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President  of  the  United 
States,  do  hereby  command  all  persons,  being  insurgents 
as  aforesaid,  and  all  others  whom  it  may  concern,  on  or 
before  the  first  day  of  September  next,  to  disperse  and 
return  peaceably  to  their  respective  abodes.  And  I  do 
moreover  warn  all  persons  whomsoever  against  aiding, 
abetting,  or  comforting  the  perpetrators  of  the  aforesaid 
treasonable  acts :  And  do  require  all  officers  and  other 
citizens,  according  to  their  respective  duties  and  the  law 
of  the  land,  to  exert  their  utmost  endeavors  to  prevent 
and  suppress  such  dangerous  proceedings. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  caused  the  seal  of  the 
United  States  of  America  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents, 
and  signed  the  same  with  my  hand.  Done  at  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  the  seventh  day  of  August,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-four,  and  of  the  independence 
of  the  United  States  of  America  the  nineteenth. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


68  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

PROCLAMATION, 

SEPTEMBER   25,    1794. 

Whereas,  from  a  hope  that  the  combination  against 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  in  certain 
of  the  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  would  yield  to 
time  and  reflection,  I  thought  it  sufficient  in  the  first 
instance  rather  to  take  measures  for  calling  forth  the 
militia,  than  immediately  to  embody  them  ;  but  the  mo 
ment  is  now  come  when  the  overtures  of  forgiveness,  with 
no  other  condition  than  a  submission  to  law,  have  been 
only  partially  accepted  ;  when  every  form  of  conciliation, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  being  of  government,  has  been 
adopted  without  effect ;  when  the  well-disposed  in  those 
counties  are  unable  by  their  influence  and  example  to 
reclaim  the  wicked  from  their  fury,  and  are  compelled  to 
associate  in  their  own  defence  ;  when  the  proffered  lenity 
has  been  perversely  misinterpreted  into  an  apprehension 
that  the  citizens  will  march  with  reluctance;  when  the 
opportunity  of  examining  the  serious  consequences  of  a 
treasonable  opposition  has  been  employed  in  propagating 
principles  of  anarchy  ;  endeavoring  through  emissaries 
to  alienate  the  friends  of  order  from  its  support,  and  in 
viting  its  enemies  to  perpetrate  similar  acts  of  insurrec 
tion;  when  it  is  manifest  that  violence  would  continue  to 
be  exercised  upon  every  attempt  to  enforce  the  laws; 
when,  therefore,  government  is  set  at  defiance,  the  con 
test  being  whether  a  small  portion  of  the  United  States 
shall  dictate  to  the  whole  Union,  and,  at  the  expense  of 
those  who  desire  peace,  indulge  a  desperate  ambition. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President  of 
the  United  States,  in  obedience  to  that  high  and  irresisti 
ble  duty  consigned  to  me  by  the  constitution,  "  to  take 
care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed  ;"  deploring  that 
the  American  name  should  be  sullied  by  the  outrages  of 
citizens  on  their  own  government ;  commiserating  such 
as  remain  obstinate  from  delusion,  but  resolved,  in  perfect 
reliance  on  that  gracious  Providence  which  so  signally 
displays  its  goodness  towards  this  country,  to  reduce  the 


PROCLAMATION.  69 

refractory  to  a  due  subordination  to  the  laws;  do  hereby 
declare  and  make  known,  that  with  a  satisfaction  which 
can  be  equalled  only- by  the  merits  of  the  militia  summoned 
into  service  from  the  states  of  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  Virginia,  I  have  received  intelligence  of 
their  patriotic  alacrity  in  obeying  the  call  of  the  present, 
though  painful,  yet  commanding  necessity;  that  a  force, 
which,  according  to  every  reasonable  expectation,  is  ade 
quate  to  the  exigency,  is  already  in  motion  to  the  scene 
of  disaffection  ;  that  those  who  have  confided  or  shall 
confide  in  the  protection  of  government  shall  meet  full 
succor  under  the  standard  and  from  the  arms  of  the 
United  States;  that  those  who,  having  offended  against 
the  laws,  have  since  entitled  themselves  to  indemnity, 
will  be  treated  with  the  most  liberal  good  faith,  if  they 
shall  not  have  forfeited  their  claim  by  any  subsequent 
conduct,  and  that  instructions  are  given  accordingly. 

And  I  do  moreover  exhort  all  individuals,  officers,  and 
bodies  of  men  to  contemplate  with  abhorrence  the  mea 
sures  leading  directly  or  indirectly  to  those  crimes  which 
produce  this  resort  to  military  coercion ;  to  check,  in 
their  respective  spheres,  the  efforts  of  misguided  or  de 
signing  men,  to  substitute  their  misrepresentation  in  the 
place  of  truth,  and  their  discontents  in  the  place  of  sta 
ble  government. 

And  lastly,  1  again  warn  all  persons  whomsoever  and 
wheresoever,  not  to  abet,  aid,  or  comfort  the  insurgents 
aforesaid,  as  they  will  answer  the  contrary  at  their  peril ; 
and  I  do  also  require  all  officers  and  other  citizens,  as 
far  as  may  be  in  their  power,  to  bring  under  the  cogni 
zance  of  the  laws  all  offenders  in  the  premises. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  caused  the  seal  of  the 
United  States  of  America  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents, 
and  signed  the  same  with  my  hand.  Done  at  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  September,  one  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four,  and  of  the  indepen 
dence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  nineteenth. 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


70  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 
MARCH  30,  1796. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

With  the  utmost  attention  I  have  considered  your  reso 
lution  of  the  twenty-fourth  instant,  requesting  me  to  lay 
before  your  House  a  copy  of  the  instructions  to  the  mi 
nister  of  the  United  States  who  negotiated  the  treaty  with 
the  king  of  Great  Britain,  together  with  the  correspon 
dence  and  other  documents  relative  to  that  treaty,  except 
ing  such  of  the  said  papers  as  any  existing  negotiation 
may  render  improper  to  be  disclosed. 

In  deliberating  upon  this  subject,  it  was  impossible  for 
me  to  lose  sight  of  the  principle,  which  some  have  avowed 
in  its  discussion,  or  to  avoid  extending  my  views  to  the 
consequences  which  must  flow  from  the  admission  of  that 
principle. 

I  trust  that  no  part  of  my  conduct  has  ever  indicated 
a  disposition  to  withhold  any  information  which  the  con 
stitution  has  enjoined  upon  the  President  as  a  duty  to 
give,  or  which  could  be  required  of  him  by  either  House 
of  Congress  as  a  right ;  and  with  truth  I  affirm,  that  it 
has  been,  as  it  will  continue  to  be,  while  I  have  the  honor 
to  preside  in  the  government,  my  constant  endeavor  to 
harmonize  with  the  other  branches  thereof,  so  far  as  the 
trust  delegated  to  me  by  the  people  of  the  United  States 
and  my  sense  of  the  obligation  it  imposes  to  "preserve, 
protect,  and  defend  the  constitution,"  will  permit. 

The  nature  of  foreign  negotiations  requires  caution, 
and  their  success  must  often  depend  on  secrecy  ;  and  even 
when  brought  to  a  conclusion,  a  full  disclosure  of  all  the 
measures,  demands,  or  eventual  concessions,  which  may 
have  been  proposed  or  contemplated,  would  be  extremely 
impolitic  ;  for  this  might  have  a  pernicious  influence  on 
future  negotiations,  or  produce  immediate  inconvenien 
ces;  perhaps  danger  and  mischief,  in  relation  to  other 
powers.  The  necessity  of  such  caution  and  secrecy  was 
one  cogent  reason  for  vesting  the  power  of  making  trea 
ties  in  the  President,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate ;  the  principle  on  which  that  body  was  formed 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE*  71 

confining  it  to  a  small  number  of  members.  To  admit, 
then,  a  right  in  the  House  of  Representatives  to  demand, 
and  to  have,  as  a  matter  of  course,  all  the  papers  respect 
ing  a  negotiation  with  a  foreign  power,  would  be  to  €*• 
tablish  a  dangerous  precedent. 

It  does  not  occur  that  the  inspection  of  the  papers  asked 
for,  can  be  relative  to  any  purpose  under  the  cognizance 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  except  that  of  an  im 
peachment,  which  the  resolution  has  not  expressed.  Ire- 
peat  that  I  have  no  disposition  to  withhold  any  informa 
tion  which  the  duty  of  my  station  will  permit,  or  the  pub 
lic  good  shall  require  to  be  disclosed  ;  and,  in  fact,  all  the 
papers  affecting  the  negotiation  with  Great  Britain  were 
laid  before  the  Senate,  when  the  treaty  itself  was  commu 
nicated  for  their  consideration  and  advice. 

The  course  which  the  debate  has  taken,  on  the  re 
solution  of  the  House,  leads  to  some  observations  on  the 
mode  of  making  treaties  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

Having  been  a  member  of  the  general  convention,  and 
knowing  the  principles  on  which  the  constitution  was 
formed,  I  have  ever  entertained  but  one  opinion  on  this 
subject;  and  from  the  first  establishment  of  the  govern 
ment  to  this  moment,  my  conduct  has  exemplified  that 
opinion,  that  the  power  of  making  treaties  is  exclusively 
vested  in  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con 
sent  of  the  Senate,  provided  two  thirds  of  the  Senators 
present  concur ;  and  that  every  treaty  so  made  and  pro>- 
inulgated,  thenceforward  became  the  law  of  the  land.  It 
is  thus  that  the  treaty-making  power  has  been  understood 
by  foreign  nations :  and  in  all  the  treaties  made  with 
them,  we  have  declared,  and  they  have  believed,  that, 
when  ratified  by  the  President,  with  the  advice  and  con 
sent  of  the  Senate,  they  became  obligatory.  In  this  con 
struction  of  the  constitution,  every  House  of  Represen 
tatives  has  heretofore  acquiesced ;  and  until  the  present 
time  not  a  doubt  or  suspicion  has  appeared,  to  my  know 
ledge,  that  this  construction  was  not  the  true  one.  Nay, 
they  have  more  than  acquiesced  :  for,  till  now,  without 
controverting  the  obligation  of  such  treaties,  they  have 
made  all  the  requisite  provisions  for  carrying  them  into 
effect. 


72  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  this  construction 
agrees  with  the  opinions  entertained  by  the  state  conven 
tions,  when  they  were  deliberating  on  the  constitution, 
especially  by  those  who  objected  to  it ;  because  there  was 
not  required,  in  commercial  treaties,  the  consent  of  two 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  the  members  of  the  Se 
nate,  instead  of  two  thirds  of  the  Senators  present :  and 
because,  in  treaties  respecting  territorial  and  certain  other 
rights  and  claims,  the  concurrence  of  three  fourths  of  the 
whole  number  of  the  members  of  both  Houses,  respec 
tively,  was  not  made  necessary. 

It  is  a  fact,  declared  by  the  general  convention,  and 
universally  understood,  that  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  the  result  of  a  spirit  of  amity  and  mutual  con 
cession.  And  it  is  well  known  that,  under  this  influence, 
the  smaller  states  were  admitted  to  an  equal  representa 
tion  in  the  Senate  with  the  larger  states;  and  that  this 
branch  of  the  government  was  invested  with  great  pow 
ers  :  for,  on  the  equal  participation  of  those  powers,  the 
sovereignty  and  political  safety  of  the  smaller  states  were 
deemed  essentially  to  depend. 

If  other  proofs  than  these,  and  the  plain  letter  of  the 
constitution  itself,  be  necessary  to  ascertain  the  point  un 
der  consideration,  they  may  be  found  in  the  journals  of 
the  general  convention,  which  I  have  deposited  in  the  of 
fice  of  the  department  of  state.  In  those  journals,  it  will 
appear  that  a  proposition  was  made,  "  that  no  treaty  should 
be  binding  on  the  United  States  which  was  not  ratified  by 
a  law ;"  and  that  the  proposition  was  explicitly  rejected. 

As,  therefore,  it  is  perfectly  clear  to  my  understanding, 
that  the  assent  of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  not 
necessary  to  the  validity  of  a  treaty  ;  as  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  exhibits  in  itself  all  the  objects  requiring 
legislative  provision,  and  on  these  the  papers  called  for 
can  throw  no  light ;  and  as  it  is  essential  to  the  due  ad 
ministration  of  the  government,  that  the  boundaries  fixed 
by  the  constitution  between  the  different  departments 
should  be  preserved;  a  just  regard  to  the  constitution  and 
to  the  duty  of  my  office,  under  all  the  circumstances  of 
this  case,  forbid  a  compliance  with  your  request. 


JOHN   ADAMS. 


JOHN  ADAMS,  who  had  the  distinguished  honor  of 
succeeding  the  illustrious  Washington  in  the  Presidency 
of  the  United  States,  was  born  at  Quincy,  Mass.,  then  a 
part  of  the  ancient  town  of  Braintree,  on  the  19th  of  Octo 
ber,  (O.  S.)  1735.  Discovering  a  strong  taste  for  reading, 
at  an  early  age,  his  father  took  great  care  to  provide  for 
his  education.  He*  accordingly  became  a  member  of 
Harvard  College,  where  he  graduated  in  1755.  At  the 
close  of  his  college  career,  he  was  for  a  time  employed  in 
instructing  a  common  school,  but  soon  commenced  the 
study  of  law,  in  the  office  of  Samuel  Putnam,  an  eminent 
barrister  at  Worcester.  By  him  he  was  introduced  to 
Jeremiah  Gridley,  a  lawyer  of  the  first  distinction,  at  that 
time  attorney-general  of  Massachusetts.  From  the  first 
interview  they  were  friends,  and  Gridley  took  him  at  once 
into  favor,  and  procured  his  admission  to  the  bar.  Soon 
after,  with  an  air  of  mystery  he  led  his  young  friend 
to  a  private  chamber,  and  pointing  to  a  book  case,  said, 
"  Sir,  there  is  the  secret  of  my  eminence,  and  you  may 
avail  yourself  of  it  as  you  please."  In  this  place  Mr. 
Adams  labored  night  and  day  till  he  made  himself  master 
of  the  civil  code. 

With  a  mind  naturally  inclined  to  political  speculations, 
the  propensity  was  naturally  strengthened  within  him  by 
the  exciting  character  of  the  times.  The  first  sparks  of 
revolution  were  already  breaking  forth  from  the  masses 
of  our  people,  and  even  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  Mr. 
Adams  seems  to  have  foreseen  the  great  things  that  were 
7 


74  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

in  reserve  for  the  country.  In  1755,  while  a  resident  at 
Worcester,  he  wrote  a  letter  of  which  the  following  is 
an  exstract.  "  Soon  after  the  Reformation,  a  few  people 
came  over  into  this  new  world  for  conscience  sake  :  per 
haps  this  apparently  trivial  incident  may  transfer  the  great 
seat  of  empire  into  America.  It  looks  likely  to  me ;  for 
if  we  can  remove  the  turbulent  Gallicks,  our  people, 
according  to  the  exactest  computations,  will  in  another 
century  become  more  numerous  than  England  itself. 
Should  this  be  the  case,  since  we  have,  I  may  say,  all  the 
naval  stores  of  the  nation  in  our  hands,  it  will  be  easy  to 
obtain  a  mastery  of  the  seas,  and  the  united  force  of  all 
Europe  will  not  be  able  to  subdue  us."  There  is  some 
thing  remarkable  in  this  prophetic  language,  coming  from 
so  young  a  man,  and  at  so  early  a  period  in  our  country's 
history.  It  is  still  more  remarkable  that  he  should  have 
lived  to  see  his  predictions  fulfilled,  and  to  act  a  promi 
nent  part  in  the  events  which  led  to  their  fulfilment. 

In  1766,  Mr.  Adams,  having  already  risen  to  great 
eminence  in  his  profession,  removed  to  Boston.  Here 
he  became  one  of  the  associates  of  Otis,  Hancock,  Sam 
uel  Adams,  and  others,  in  resistance  to  the  arbitrary 
measures  of  the  government.  His  great  abilities  attract 
ed  attention,  and  the  English  governor,  Barnard,  tried  to 
detach  him  from  the  cause  he  had  espoused,  by  tender 
ing  him  the  lucrative  office  of  advocate-general  in  the 
court  of  admiralty.  But  he  rejected  the  proposition  with 
promptness,  choosing  rather  to  expose  to  hazard  his  life 
and  prospects,  than  give  up  his  integrity.  Mr.  Adams 
was  a  member  of  all  the  revolutionary  conventions  in 
his  native  state,  and  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  first 
Continental  Congress.  The  second  Congress  convened 
at  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1775.  It  became  necessary  to 
appoint  a  leader  for  the  contest,  to  command  the  armies 


LIFE    OF    ADAMS.  75 

of  the  Revolution.  The  influence  of  Mr.  Adams  did 
much  towards  securing  the  services  of  George  Washing 
ton  in  that  important  station. 

Mr.  Adams,  having  once  enlisted  in  the  great  contest, 
favored  no  half-way  measures,  but  went  boldly  for  inde 
pendence.  He  aided  in  drafting  the  Declaration,  and, 
"  sink  or  swim,  live  or  die, -survive  or  perish,"  pledged 
his  hand  and  his  heart  to  the  maintenance  of  its  prin 
ciples. 

In  alluding  to  its  adoption  by  Congress,  in  a  letter  to 
his  wife  he  thus  expressed  his  feelings  on  that  important 
occasion.  "  The  day  is  passed.  The  4th  of  July,  1776, 
will  be  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of  America. 
I  am  apt  to  believe  it  will  be  celebrated  by  succeeding 
generations  as  a  great  anniversary  festival.  It  ought  to 
be  commemorated  as  the  day  of  deliverance,  by  solemn 
acts  of  devotion  to  Almighty  God.  It  ought  to  be  solem 
nized  with  pomp,  shows,  games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bon 
fires,  and  illuminations,  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to 
the  other.  You  will  think  me  transported  with  enthusi 
asm  ;  but  I  am  not.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  toil  and 
blood  and  treasure  that  it  will  cost  to  maintain  this  de 
claration,  and  support  and  defend  these  states;  yet, 
through  all  the  gloom,  I  can  see  the  rays  of  future  light 
and  glory." 

In  December,  1777,  Mr.  Adams  was  appointed  com 
missioner  to  France ;  but  the  principal  object  of  his  mis 
sion  having  been  accomplished  by  Dr.  Franklin,  he 
returned  in  the  summer  of  1779.  He  assisted  in  form 
ing  the  first  constitution  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  ap 
pointed  minister  to  England,  and  afterwards  to  Holland ; 
and  Congress  at  one  time  invested  him  with  general 
plenipotentiary  powers  to  half  the  European  kingdoms, 


76  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

lie  negotiated  peace  with  Great  Britain,  and  was  the  first 
American  minister  accredited  at  the  English  court.  After 
an  absence  in  Europe  of  eight  years,  "he  returned  to  the 
United  States ;  and  in  1788,  was  elected  vice-president 
of  the  United  States.  He  was  again  elected  to  the  same 
office  in  1792.  He  succeeded  Washington  as  President, 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1797,  and  remained  one  term  in 
office.  His  administration  was  marked  by  some  faults, 
which  it  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  disguise.  He 
was  naturally  jealous,  and  impatient  under  the  scrutiny 
of  the  party  opposed  to  him.  The  Alien  and  Sedition 
laws,  the  one  arming  him  with  power  to  banish  at  plea 
sure  every  foreigner  who  should  land  on  our  shores,  the 
other  empowering  him  to  drag  his  fellow-citizens  before 
prejudiced  and  partisan  courts,  for  a  free  expression  of 
their  opinions  in  relation-  to  his  acts, — were  the  natural 
results  of  these  traits  in  his  character,  and  of  that  incli 
nation  to  strong  and  perhaps  arbitrary  forms  of  govern 
ment,  which  always  characterized  more  or  less  his  opin 
ions  and  his  public  acts,  and  which  seemed  to  have  been 
strengthened  and  confirmed  by  his  protracted  visit  to 
Europe,  and  his  association  with  the  monarchical  institu 
tions  and  circles  with  which  he  was  there  brought  in  contact. 
Great  as  were  his  patriotic  services  during  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  and  deep  and  lasting  as  is,  and  must  ever  be, 
the  debt  of  gratitude  due  him  from  his  countrymen  for 
those  services,  it  is  probably  no  injustice  to  the  memory 
of  this  great  man  to  say,  that  before  and  during  that  war, 
he  looked  rather  to  independence  than  republicanism,  and 
that  the  animating  motive  of  his  efforts  was  not  so  much 
a  desire  to  establish  a  government  essentially  differing 
from  that  of  England,  for  whose  institutions  -he  enter 
tained  during  life  a  strong  and  increasing  partiality,  as 


SPECIAL    SESSION    MESSAGE.  77 

to  obtain  exemption  from   her  arbitrary  control,  and  a 
separate  and  independent  national  existence. 

Upon  the  election  of  Jefferson,  in  1801,  he  retired  to 
his  paternal  seat  in  Quincy ;  and,  with  the  exception  of 
taking  his  seat  and  participating  in  the  doings  of  the 
convention  of  1820  to  revise  the  constitution  of  his 
native  state,  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the 
ease  and  quiet  of  private  life.  He  died  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1826,  just  fifty  years  after  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence,  in  the  ninety-second  year  of  his  age.  On  the 
morning  of  that  day,  though  unable  to  rise  from  his  bed, 
when  asked  to  suggest  a  toast  suited  to  its  celebration, 
his  mind  glanced  back  to  the  time  on  which,  just  fifty 
years  before,  he  had  signed  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence,  and  arousing  for  a  moment,  he  gave  as  a  senti 
ment,  "  Independence  forever !"  That  noble  and  charac 
teristic  sentiment  had  passed  scarcely  eight  hours  from 
his  lips,  when  his  spirit  passed  away  forever.  It  was 
thus  his  singular  fortune  to  close  his  earthly  career  on  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  an  event  to  which  his  early  efforts 
had  so  essentially  contributed. 


SPECIAL  SESSION  MESSAGE. 
MAY  16,  1797. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

The  personal  inconveniencies  to  the  members  of  the 
Senate  and  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  leaving 
their  families  and  private  affairs  at  this  season  of  the  year, 
are  so  obvious,  that  I  the  more  regret  the  extraordinary 

VOL.  II.  7* 


78  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

occasion  which  has  rendered  the  convention  of  Congress 
indispensable. 

It  would  have  afforded  me  the  highest  satisfaction  to 
have  been  able  to  congratulate  you  on  a  restoration  of 
peace  to  the  nations  of  Europe  whose  animosities  have 
endangered  our  tranquillity.  But  we  have  still  abundant 
cause  of  gratitude  to  the  Supreme  Dispenser  of  national 
blessings,  for  general  health  and  promising  seasons ;  for 
domestic  and  social  happiness  ;  for  the  rapid  progress  and 
ample  acquisitions  of  industry  through  extensive  territo 
ries  ;  for  civil,  political,  and  religious  liberty.  While 
other  states  are  desolated  with  foreign  war,  or  convulsed 
with  intestine  divisions,  the  United  States  present  the 
pleasing  prospect  of  a  nation  governed  by  mild  and  equal 
laws,  generally  satisfied  with  the  possession  of  their  rights; 
neither  envying  the  advantages,  nor  fearing  the  power,  of 
other  nations  ;  solicitous  only  for  the  maintenance  of  or 
der  and  justice,  and  the  preservation  of  liberty  ;  increas 
ing  daily  in  their  attachment  to  a  system  of  government 
in  proportion  to  their  experience  of  its  utility ;  yielding  a 
ready  and  general  obedience  to  laws  flowing  from  the  rea 
son,  and  resting  on  the  only  solid  foundation,  the  affec 
tions  of  the  people. 

It  is  with  extreme  regret  that  I  shall  be  obliged  to  turn 
your  thoughts  to  other  circumstances,  which  admonish  us 
that  some  of  these  felicities  may  not  be  lasting.  But,  if 
the  tide  of  our  prosperity  is  full,  and  a  reflux  commen 
cing,  a  vigilant  circumspection  becomes  us,  that  we  may 
meet  our  reverses  with  fortitude,  and  extricate  ourselves 
from  their  consequences  with  all  the  skill  we  possess  and 
all  the  efforts  in  our  power. 

In  giving  to  Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the 
Union,  and  recommending  to  their  consideration  such 
measures  as  appear  to  me  to  be  expedient  or  necessary, 
according  to  my  constitutional  duty,  the  causes  and  the 
object  of  the  present  extraordinary  session  will  be  ex 
plained. 

After  the  President  of  the  United  States  received  in 
formation  that  the  French  government  had  expressed  se 
rious  discontents  at  some  proceedings  of  the  government 
of  these  states,  said  to  affect  the  interests  of  France,  he 


SPECIAL    SESSION   MESSAGE.  79 

thought  it  expedient  to  send  to  that  country  a  new  minis 
ter,  fully  instructed  to  enter  on  such  amicable  discussions, 
and  to  give  such  candid  explanations,  as  might  happily 
remove  the  discontents  and  suspicions  of  the  French  go 
vernment,  and  vindicate  the  conduct  of  the  United  States. 
For  this  purpose  he  selected,  from  among  his  fellow-citi 
zens,  a  character  whose  integrity,  talents,  experience,  and 
services  had  placed  him  in  the  rank  of  the  most  esteemed 
and  respected  in  the  nation.  The  direct  object  of  his 
mission  was  expressed  in  his  letter  of  credence  to  the 
French  republic  ;  being  "  to  maintain  that  good  under 
standing,  which,  from  the  commencement  of  the  allian 
ces,  had  subsisted  between  the  two  nations ;  and  to  efface 
unfavorable  impressions,  banish  suspicions,  and  restore 
that  cordiality  which  was  at  once  the  evidence  and  pledge 
of  a  friendly  union."  And  his  instructions  were  to  the 
same  effect,  "  faithfully  to  represent  the  disposition  of  the 
government  and  people  of  the  United  States,  their  dispo 
sition  being  one,  to  remove  jealousies  and  obviate  com 
plaints,  by  showing  that  they  were  groundless,  to  restore 
that  mutual  confidence  which  had  been  so  unfortunately 
and  injuriously  impaired,  and  to  explain  the  relative  in 
terests  of  both  countries,  and  the  real  sentiments  of  his 
own." 

A  minister  thus  specially  commissioned,  it  was  expect 
ed,  would  have  proved  the  instrument  of  restoring  mutu 
al  confidence  between  the  two  republics.  The  first  step 
of  the  French  government  corresponded  with  that  expec 
tation.  A  few  days  before  his  arrival  at  Paris,  the  French 
minister  of  foreign  relations  informed  the  American  mi 
nister,  then  resident  at  Paris,  of  the  formalities  to  be  ob 
served  by  himself  in  taking  leave,  and  by  his  successor 
preparatory  to  his  reception.  These  formalities  they  ob 
served,  and  on  the  ninth  of  December  presented  officially 
to  the  minister  of  foreign  relations,  the  one  a  copy  of  his 
letters  of  recall,  the  other  a  copy  of  his  letters  of  cre 
dence. 

These  were  laid  before  the  executive  directory.  Two 
days  afterwards,  the  minister  of  foreign  relations  informed 
the  recalled  American  minister,  that  the  executive  direc 
tory  had  determined  not  to  receive  another  minister  pie- 


80  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

nipotentiary  from  the  United  States  until  after  the  redress 
of  grievances  demanded  of  the  American  government, 
and  which  the  French  republic  had  a  right  to  expect  from 
it.  The  American  minister  immediately  endeavored  to 
ascertain  whether,  by  refusing  to  receive  him,  it  was  in 
tended  that  he  should  retire  from  the  territories  of  the 
French  republic  ;  and  verbal  answers  were  given  that  such 
was  the  intention  of  the  directory.  For  his  own  justifi 
cation  he  desired  a  written  answer,  but  obtained  none  un 
til  towards  the  last  of  January,  when,  receiving  notice  in 
writing  to  quit  the  territories  of  the  republic,  he  proceeded 
to  Amsterdam,  where  he  proposed  to  wait  for  instruction 
from  this  government.  During  his  residence  at  Paris, 
cards  of  hospitality  were  refused  him,  and  he  was  threat 
ened  with  being  subjected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  minis 
ter  of  the  police  ;  but,  with  becoming  firmness,  he  in 
sisted  on  the  protection  of  the  law  of  nations,  due  to  him 
as  the  known  minister  of  a  foreign  power.  You  will  de 
rive  further  information  from  his  despatches,  which  will 
be  laid  before 

As  it  is  often  necessary  that  nations  should  treat,  for 
the  mutual  advantage  of  their  affairs,  and  especially  to  ac 
commodate  and  terminate  differences  ;  and  as  they  can 
treat  only  by  ministers,  the  right  of  embassy  is  well  known 
and  established  by  the  law  and  usage  of  nations.  The 
refusal  on  the  part  of  France  to  receive  our  minister,  is 
then  the  denial  of  a  right ;  but  the  refusal  to  receive  him 
until  we  have  acceded  to  their  demands,  without  discus 
sion  and  without  investigation,  is  to  treat  us  neither  as  al 
lies,  nor  as  friends,  nor  as  a  sovereign  state. 

With  this  conduct  of  the  French  government,  it  will 
be  proper  to  take  into  view  the  public  audience  given  to 
the  late  minister  of  the  United  States,  on  his  taking  leave 
of  the  executive  directory.  The  speech  of  the  president 
discloses  sentiments  more  alarming  than  the  refusal  of  a 
minister,  because  more  dangerous  to  our  independence 
and  union,  and  at  the  same  time  studiously  marked  with 
indignities  towards  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
It  evinces  a  disposition  to  separate  the  people  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  from  the  government;  to  persuade  them  that 
they  have  different  affections,  principles,  and  interests, 


SPECIAL    SESSION    MESSAGE.  81 

from  those  of  their  fellow-citizens  whom  they  themselves 
have  chosen  to  manage  their  common  concerns  ;  and  thus 
to  produce  divisions  fatal  to  our  peace.  Such  attempts 
ought  to  be  repelled  with  a  decision  which  shall  convince 
France  and  the  world  that  we  are  not  a  degraded  people, 
humiliated  under  a  colonial  spirit  of  fear  and  sense  of  in 
feriority,  fitted  to  be  the  miserable  instruments  of  foreign 
influence,  and  regardless  of  national  honor,  character,  and 
interest. 

I  should  have  been  happy  to  have  thrown  a  veil  over 
these  transactions  if  it  had  been  possible  to  conceal 
them  ;  but  they  have  passed  on  the  great  theatre  of  the 
world,  in  the  face  of  all  Europe  and  America,  and  with 
such  circumstances  of  publicity  and  solemnity  that  they 
cannot  be  disguised,  and  will  not  soon  be  forgotten ;  they 
have  inflicted  a  wound  on  the  American  breast;  it  is  my 
sincere  desire,  however,  that  it  may  be  healed. 

It  is  my  desire,  and  in  this  I  presume  I  concur  with 
you  and  with  our  constituents,  to  preserve  peace  and 
friendship  with  all  nations  ;  and  believing  that  neither  the 
honor  nor  the  interest  of  the  United  States  absolutely 
forbid  the  repetition  of  advances  for  securing  these  desi 
rable  objects  with  France,  I  shall  institute  a  fresh  attempt 
at  negotiation,  and  skill  not  fail  to  promote  and  accele 
rate  an  accommodation,  on  terms  compatible  with  the 
rights,  duties,  interests,  and  honor  of  the  nation.  If  we 
have  committed  errors,  and  these  can  be  demonstrated, 
we  shall  be  willing  to  correct  them.  And  equal  measures 
of  justice  we  have  a  right  to  expect  from  France  and 
every  other  nation. 

The  diplomatic  intercourse  between  the  United  States 
and  France  being  at  present  suspended,  the  government 
has  no  means  of  obtaining  official  information  from  that 
country  ;  nevertheless,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
executive  directory  passed  a  decree  on  the  second  of 
March  last,  contravening,  in  part,  the  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerce  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight,  injurious  to  our  lawful  commerce  and  endangering 
the  lives  of  our  citizens.  A  copy  of  this  decree  will  be 
laid  before  you. 

While  we  are  endeavoring  to  adjust  all  our  differences 


82  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

with  France,  by  amicable  negotiation,  the  progress  of  the 
war  in  Europe,  the  depredations  on  our  commerce,  the 
personal  injuries  to  our  citizens,  and  the  general  com 
plexion  of  affairs,  render  it  my  indispensable  duty  to 
recommend  to  your  consideration  effectual  measures  of 
defence. 

The  commerce  of  the  United  States  has  become  an 
interesting  object  of  attention,  whether  we  consider  it  in 
relation  to  the  wealth  and  finances,  or  the  strength  and 
resources  of  the  nation.  With  a  seacoast  of  near  two 
thousand  miles  in  extent,  opening  a  wide  field  for  fishe 
ries,  navigation,  and  commerce,  a  great  portion  of  our 
citizens  naturally  apply  their  industry  and  enterprise  to 
those  objects.  Any  serious  and  permanent  injury  to  com 
merce  would  not  fail  to  produce  the  most  embarrassing 
disorders ;  to  prevent  it  from  being  undermined  and  de 
stroyed,  it  is  essential  that  it  receive  an  adequate  protec 
tion. 

The  naval  establishment  must  occur  to  every  man  who 
considers  the  injuries  committed  on  our  commerce,  and 
the  insults  offered  to  our  citizens,  and  the  description  of 
the  vessels  by  which  these  abuses  have  been  practised. 
As  the  sufferings  of  our  mercantile  and  sea-faring  citizens 
cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  omission  of  duties  demandable, 
considering  the  neutral  situation  of  our  country,  they  are 
to  be  attributed  to  the  hope  of  impunity,  arising  from  a 
supposed  inability  on  our  part  to  afford  protection.  To 
resist  the  consequences  of  such  impressions  on  the  minds 
of  foreign  nations,  and  to  guard  againsfthe  degradation 
and  servility  which  they  must  finally  stamp  on  the  Ameri 
can  character,  is  an  important  duty  of  government. 

A  naval  power,  next  to  the  militia,  is  the  natural  de 
fence  of  the  United  States.  The  experience  of  the  last 
war  would  be  sufficient  to  show,  that  a  moderate  naval 
force,  such  as  would  be  easily  within  the  present  abilities 
of  the  Union,  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have  baffled 
many  formidable  transportations  of  troops  from  one  state 
to  another,  which  were  then  practised.  Our  seacoasts, 
from  their  great  extent,  are  more  easily  annoyed,  and 
more  easily  defended  by  a  naval  force  than  any  other. 
With  all  the  materials  our  country  abounds.  In  skill,  our 


SPECIAL    SESSION     MESSAGE.  83 

naval   architects  and  navigators   are  equal  to  any ;  and 
commanders  and  seamen  will  not  be  wanting. 

But,  although  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  system 
of  naval  defence  appears  to  be  requisite,  I  am  sensible  it 
cannot  be  formed  so  speedily  and  extensively  as  the  pre 
sent  crisis  demands.  Hitherto  I  have  thought  proper  to 
prevent  the  sailing  of  armed  vessels,  except  on  voyages 
to  the  East  Indies,  where  general  usage  and  the  danger 
from  pirates  appeared  to  render  the  permission  proper. 
Yet  the  restriction  has  originated  solely  from  a  wish  to 
prevent  collisions  with  the  powers  at  war,  contravening 
the  act  of  Congress  of  June,  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
ninety-four,  and  not  from  any  doubt  entertained  by  me 
of  the  policy  and  propriety  of  permitting  our  vessels  to 
employ  means  of  defence,  while  engaged  in  a  lawful  for 
eign  commerce.  It  remains  for  Congress  to  prescribe 
such  regulations  as  will  enable  our  sea-faring  citizens  to 
defend  themselves  against  violations  of  the  law  of  nations, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  restrain  them  from  committing 
acts  of  hostility  against  the  powers  at  war.  In  addition 
to  this  voluntary  provision  for  defence  by  individual  citi 
zens,  it  appears  to  me  necessary  to  equip  the  frigates, 
and  provide  other  vessels  of  inferior  force,  to  take  under 
convoy  such  merchant  vessels  as  shall  remain  unarmed. 

The  greater  part  of  the  cruisers,  whose  depredations 
have  been  most  injurious,  have  been  built,  and  some  of 
them  partially  equipped  in  the  United  States.  Although 
an  effectual  remedy  may  be  attended  with  difficulty,  yet 
I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  present  the  subject  generally 
to  your  consideration.  If  a  mode  can  be  devised  by  the 
wisdom  of  Congress  to  prevent  the  resources  of  the 
United  States  from  being  converted  into  the  means  of 
annoying  our  trade,  a  great  evil  will  be  prevented.  With 
the  same  view,  I  think  it  proper  to  mention  that  some  of 
our  citizens,  residents  abroad,  have  fitted  out  privateers, 
and  others  have  voluntarily  taken  the  command,  or  en 
tered  on  board  of  them,  and  committed  spoliations  on 
the  commerce  of  the  United  States.  Such  unnatural  arid 
iniquitous  practices  can  be  restrained  only  by  severe 
punishments. 

But,  besides  a  protection  of  our  commerce  on  the  seas, 


84  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

I  think  it  highly  necessary  to  protect  it  at  home,  where 
it  is  collected  in  our  most  important  ports.  The  distance 
of  the  United  States  from  Europe,  and  the  well-known 
promptitude,  ardor,  and  courage  of  the  people,  in  de 
fence  of  their  country,  happily  diminish  the  probability 
of  invasion  ;  nevertheless,  to  guard  against  sudden  and 
predatory  incursions,  the  situation  of  some  of  our  prin 
cipal  seaports  demands  your  consideration ;  and,  as  our 
country  is  vulnerable  in  other  interests  besides  those  of 
its  commerce,  you  will  seriously  deliberate  whether  the 
means  of  general  defence  ought  not  to  be  increased  by 
an  addition  to  the  regular  artillery  and  cavalry,  and  by 
arrangements  for  forming  a  provisional  army. 

With  the  same  view,  and  as  a  measure  which,  even  in 
time  of  universal  peace,  ought  not  to  be  neglected,  I 
recommend  to  your  consideration  a  revision  of  the  laws 
for  organizing,  arming,  and  the  disciplining  the  militia, 
to  render  that  natural  and  safe  defence  of  the  country 
efficacious. 

Although  it  is  very  true  that  we  ought  not  to  involve 
ourselves  in  the  political  system  of  Europe,  but  to  keep 
ourselves  always  distinct  and  separate  from  it  if  we  can  ; 
yet  to  affect  this  separation,  early,  punctual,  and  continu 
al  information  of  the  current  chain  of  events,  and  of  the 
political  projects  in  contemplation  is  no  less  necessary 
than  if  we  were  directly  concerned  in  them.  It  ft  neces 
sary  in  order  to  the  discovery  of  the  efforts  made  to 
draw  us  into  the  vortex,  in  season  to  make  preparations 
against  them.  However  we  may  consider  ourselves,  the 
maritime  and  commercial  powers  of  the  world  will  con 
sider  the  United  States  of  America  as  forming  a  weight 
in  that  balance  of  power  in  Europe  which  can  never  be 
forgotten  or  neglected.  It  would  not  only  be  against  our 
interest,  but  it  would  be  doing  wrong  to  one  half  of  Eu 
rope  at  least,  if  we  should  voluntarily  throw  ourselves 
into  either  scale.  It  is  a  natural  policy  for  a  nation  that 
studies  to  be  neutral,  to  consult  with  other  nations  en 
gaged  in  the  same  studies  and  pursuits.  At  the  same 
time  that  measures  ought  to  be  pursued  with  this  view,  our 
treaties  with  Prussia  and  Sweden,  one  of  which  is  ex 
pired,  and  the  other  near  expiring,  might  be  renewed. 


SPECIAL   SESSION     MESSAGE.  85 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

It  is  particularly  your  province  to  consider  the  state  of 
the  public  finances,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  respect- 
ting  them  as  exigences  shall  be  found  to  require.  The 
preservation  of  public  credit,  the  regular  extinguishment 
of  the  public  debt,  and  a  provision  of  funds  to  defray  any 
extraordinary  expenses,  will  of  course  call  for  your  seri 
ous  attention.  Although  the  imposition  of  new  burdens 
cannot  be,  in  itself,  agreeable,  yet  there  is  no  ground  to 
doubt  that  the  American  people  will  expect  from  you  such 
measures  as  their  actual  engagements,  their  present  secu 
rity  and  future  interests  demand. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

The  present  situation  of  our  country  imposes  an  obli 
gation  on  all  the  departments  of  government  to  adopt  an 
explicit  and  decided  conduct.  In  my  situation,  an  expo 
sition  of  the  principles  by  which  my  administration  will 
be  governed  ought  not  to  be  omitted. 

It  is  impossible  to  conceal  from  ourselves  or  the  world 
what  has  been  before  observed,  that  endeavors  have  been 
employed  to  foster  and  establish  a  division  between  the 
government  and  people  of  the  United  States.  To  investi 
gate  the  causes  which  have  encouraged  this  attempt,  is  not 
necessary.  But  to  repel  by  decided  and  united  councils 
insinuations  so  derogatory  to  the  honor,  and  aggressions 
so  dangerous  to  the  constitution,  union,  and  even  inde 
pendence  of  the  nation,  is  an  indispensable  duty. 

It  must  not  be  permitted  to  be  doubted  whether  the 
people  of  the  United  States  will  support  the  government 
established  by  their  voluntary  consent,  and  appointed  by 
their  free  choice,  or  whether,  by  surrendering  themselves 
to  the  direction  of  foreign  and  domestic  factions,  in  oppo 
sition  to  their  own  government,  they  will  forfeit  the  hon 
orable  station  they  have  hitherto  maintained. 

For  myself,  having  never  been  indifferent  to  what  con 
cerned  the  interests  of  my  country  ;  devoted  the  best  part 
of  my  life  to  obtain  and  support  its  independence;  and 
constantly  witnessed  the  patriotism,  fidelity,  and  perseve 
rance  of  my  fellow-citizens  on  the  most  trying  occasions, 

VOL.  II.  8 


86  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

it  is  not  for  me  to  hesitate  or  abandon  a  cause  in  which 
my  heart  has  been  so  long  engaged. 

Convinced  that  the  conduct  of  the  government  has 
been  just  and  impartial  to  foreign  nations;  that  those 
internal  regulations  which  have  been  established  by  law 
for  the  preservation  of  peace  are  in  their  nature  proper, 
and  that  they  have  been  fairly  executed,  nothing  will  ever 
be  done  by  me  to  impair  the  national  engagements,  to 
innovate  upon  principles  which  have  been  so  deliberately 
and  uprightly  established,  or  to  surrender,  in  any  manner, 
the  rights  of  the  government.  To  enable  me  to  maintain 
this  declaration,  I  rely,  under  God,  with  entire  confidence 
on  the  firm  and  enlightened  support  of  the  national  legis 
lature,  and  upon  the  virtue  and  patriotism  of  my  fellow- 
citizens. 

SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 

FEBRUARY    5,    1798. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  have  received  a  letter  from  his  excellency  Charles 
Pinckney,  Esq.,  governor  of  the  state  of  South  Carolina, 
dated  the  22d  of  October,  1797,  enclosing  a  number  of 
depositions  of  witnesses  to  several  captures  and  outrages 
committed  within  and  near  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 
by  a  French  privateer,  belonging  to  Cape  Francois  or 
Monte  Christo,  called  the  Vertitude  or  Fortitude,  and 
commanded  by  a  person  of  the  name  of  Jordan  or  Jour- 
daio,  and  particularly  upon  an  English  merchant  ship 
named  the  Oracabissa,  which  he  first  plundered  and  then 
burned,  with  the  rest  of  her  cargo,  of  great  value,  within 
the  territory  of  the  United  States,  in  the  harbor  of 
Charleston,  on  the  17th  of  October  last;  copies  of  which 
letter  and  depositions,  and  also  of  several  other  deposi 
tions  relative  to  the  same  subject  received  from  the  col 
lector  of  Charleston,  are  herewith  communicated. 

Whenever  the  channel  of  diplomatic  communication 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  87 

between  the  United  States  and  France  shall  be  opened,  I 
shall  demand  satisfaction  for  the  insult,  and  reparation 
for  the  injury. 

I  have  transmitted  those  papers  to  Congress,  not  so 
much  for  the  purpose  of  communicating  an  account  of  so 
daring  a  violation  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
as  to  show  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  enabling  the 
executive  authority  of  government  to  take  measures  for 
protecting  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  such 
foreigners  as  have  a  right  to  enjoy  their  peace,  and  the 
protection  of  their  laws,  within  their  limits,  in  that  as 
well  as  some  other  harbors  which  are  equally  exposed. 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE, 

MARCH    19,    1798. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

The  despatches  from  the  envoys  extraordinary  of  the 
United  States  to  the  French  republic,  which  were  men 
tioned  in  my  message  to  both  Houses  of  Congress  of 
the  5th  instant,  have  been  examined  and  maturely  con 
sidered. 

While  I  feel  a  satisfaction  in  informing  you,  that  their 
exertions  for  the  adjustment  of  the  differences  between 
the  two  nations  have  been  sincere  and  unremitted,  it  is 
incumbent  on  me  to  declare,  that  I  perceive  no  ground 
of  expectation  that  the  objects  of  their  mission  can  be 
accomplished  on  terms  compatible  with  the  safety,  honor, 
or  the  essential  interests  of  the  nation. 

This  result  cannot,  with  justice,  be  attributed  to  any 
want  of  moderation  on  the  part  of  this  government,  or 
to  any  indisposition  to  forego  secondary  interests  for  the 
preservation  of  peace.  Knowing  it  to  be  my  duty,  and 
believing  it  to  be  your  wish,  as  well  as  that  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people,  to  avoid,  by  all  reasonable  cpncessions, 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

any  participation  in  the  contentions  of  Europe,  the  pow 
ers  vested  in  our  envoys  were  commensurate  with  a  libe 
ral  and  pacific  policy,  and  that  high  confidence  which 
might  justly  be  reposed  in  the  abilities,  patriotism,  and 
integrity  of  the  characters  to  whom  the  negotiation  was 
committed.  After  a  careful  review  of  the  whole  subject, 
with  the  aid  of  all  the  information  I  have  received,  I  can 
discern  nothing  which  could  have  insured  or  contributed 
to  success,  that  has  been  omitted  on  my  part,  and  nothing 
further  which  can  be  attempted,  consistently  with  maxims 
for  which  our  country  has  contended  at  every  hazard, 
and  which  constitute  the  basis  of  our  national  sove 
reignty. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  cannot  forbear  to  reite 
rate  the  recommendations  which  have  been  formerly  made, 
and  to  exhort  you  to  adopt,  with  promptitude,  decision 
and  unanimity,  such  measures  as  the  ample  resources  of 
the  country  afford  for  the  protection  of  our  sea-faring  and 
commercial  citizens  ;  for  the  defence  of  any  exposed  por 
tions  of  our  territory ;  for  replenishing  our  arsenals  ; 
establishing  founderies  and  military  manufactories;  and 
to  provide  such  efficient  revenue  as  will  be  necessary  to 
defray  extraordinary  expenses,  and  supply  the  deficiencies 
which  may  be  occasioned  by  depredations  on  our  com 
merce. 

The  present  state  of  things  is  so  essentially  different 
from  that  in  which  instructions  were  given  to  the  collec 
tors  to  restrain  vessels  of  the  United  States  from  sailing 
in  an  armed  condition,  that  the  principle  on  which  those 
orders  were  issued  has  ceased  to  exist.  I  therefore  deem 
it  proper  to  inform  Congress,  that  I  no  longer  feel  my 
self  justifiable  in  continuing  them,  unless  in  particular 
cases,  where  there  may  be  reasonable  ground  of  suspicion 
that  such  vessels  are  intended  to  be  employed  contrary  to 
law. 

In  all  your  proceedings,  it  will  be  important  to  manifest 
a  zeal,  vigor,  and  concert,  in  defence  of  the  national 
rights,  proportioned  to  the  danger  with  which  they  are 
threatened. 


SECOND    ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  89 

SECOND  ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

DECEMBER    8,    1798. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

While  with  reverence  and  resignation  we  contemplate 
the  dispensations  of  divine  Providence,  in  the  alarming 
and  destructive  pestilence  with  which  several  of  our  ci 
ties  and  towns  have  been  visited,  there  is  cause  for  grati 
tude  and  mutual  congratulations  that  the  malady  has 
disappeared,  and  that  we  are  again  permitted  to  assemble 
in  safety  at  the  seat  of  government  for  the  discharge  of 
our  important  duties.  But  when  we  reflect  that  this  fatal 
disorder  has  within  a  few  years  made  repeated  ravages 
in  some  of  our  principal  seaports,  and  with  increased 
malignancy;  and  when  we  consider  the  magnitude  of  the 
evils  arising  from  the  interruption  of  public  and  private 
business,  whereby  the  national  interests  are  deeply  af 
fected,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  invite  the  legislature  of  the 
Union  to  examine  the  expediency  of  establishing  suitable 
regulations  in  aid  of  the  health  laws  of  the  respective 
states  ;  for  these  being  formed  on  the  idea  that  contagious 
sickness  may  be  communicated  through  the  channels  of 
commerce,  there  seems  to  be  a  necessity  that  Congress, 
who  alone  can  regulate  trade,  should  frame  a  system, 
which,  while  it  may  tend  to  preserve  the  general  health, 
may  be  compatible  with  the  interests  of  commerce  and 
the  safety  of  the  revenue. 

While  we  think  on  this  calamity,  and  sympathize  with 
the  immediate  sufferers,  we  have  abundant  reason  to 
present  to  the  Supreme  Being  our  annual  oblations  of 
gratitude  for  a  liberal  participation  in  the  ordinary  bless 
ings  of  his  providence.  To  the  usual  subjects  of  grati 
tude,  I  cannot  omit  to  add  one  of  the  first  importance  to 
our  well-being  and  safety  :  I  mean  that  spirit  which  has 
arisen  in  our  country  against  the  menaces  and  aggression 
of  a  foreign  nation.  A  manly  sense  of  national  honor, 
dignity,  and  independence  has  appeared,  which,  if  en 
couraged  and  invigorated  by  every  branch  of  the  govern 
ment,  will  enable  us  to  view  undismayed  the  enterprises 
VOL.  n.  8* 


90  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  any  foreign  power,  and  become  the  sure  foundation 
of  national  prosperity  and  glory. 

The  course  of  the  transactions  in  relation  to  the  United 
States  and  France,  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge 
during  your  recess,  will  be  made  the  subject  of  a  future 
communication.  That  communication  will  confirm  the 
ultimate  failure  of  the  measures  which  have  been  taken 
by  the  government  of  the  United  States  towards  an  ami 
cable  adjustment  of  differences  with  that  power.  You 
will  at  the  same  time  perceive  that  the  French  government 
appears  solicitous  to  impress  the  opinion  that  it  is  averse 
to  a  rupture  with  this  country,  and  that  it  has,  in  a  quali 
fied  manner,  declared  itself  willing  to  receive  a  minister 
from  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  a 
good  understanding.  It  is  unfortunate  for  professions 
of  this  kind  that  they  should  be  expressed  in  terms  which 
may  countenance  the  inadmissible  pretension  of  a  right 
to  prescribe  the  qualifications  which  a  minister  from  the 
United  States  should  possess,  and  that,  while  France  is 
asserting  the  existence  of  a  disposition  on  her  part  to 
conciliate  with  sincerity  the  differences  which  have  arisen, 
the  sincerity  of  a  like  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  of  which  so  many  demonstrative  proofs  have  been 
given,  should  even  be  indirectly  questioned.  It  is  also 
worthy  of  observation,  that  the  decree  of  the  Directory, 
alleged  to  be  intended  to  restrain  the  depredations  of 
French  cruisers  on  our  commerce,  has  not  given,  nor 
cannot  give  any  relief;  it  enjoins  them  to  conform  to  all 
the  laws  of  France  relative  to  cruising  and  prizes,  while 
these  laws  are  themselves  the  sources  of  the  depredations 
of  which  we  have  so  long,  so  justly,  and  so  fruitlessly 
complained. 

The  law  of  France,  enacted  in  January  last,  which 
subjects  to  capture  and  condemnation  neutral  vessels  and 
their  cargoes,  if  any  portion  of  the  latter  are  of  British 
fabric  or  produce,  although  the  entire  property  belong  to 
neutrals,  instead  of  being  rescinded,  has  lately  received 
a  confirmation  by  the  failure  of  a  proposition  for  its  re 
peal.  While  this  law,  which  is  an  unequivocal  act  of 
war  on  the  commerce  of  the  nations  it  attacks,  continues 
in  force,  those  nations  can  see  in  the  French  government 


SECOND    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  91 

only  a  power,  regardless  of  their  essential  rights,  of  their 
independence  and  sovereignty,  and  if  they  possess  the 
means,  they  can  reconcile  nothing  with  their  interest  and 
honor  but  a  firm  resistance. 

Hitherto,  therefore,  nothing  is  discoverable  in  the  con 
duct  of  France  which  ought  to  change  or  relax  our 
measures  of  defence;  on  the  contrary,  to  extend  and 
invigorate  them  is  our  true  policy.  We  have  no  reason 
to  regret  that  these  measures  have  been  thus  far  adopted 
and  pursued  ;  and  in  proportion  as  we  enlarge  our  view 
of  the  portentous  and  incalculable  situation  of  Europe, 
we  shall  discover  new  and  cogent  motives  for  the  full 
development  of  our  energies  and  resources. 

But,  by  demonstrating  in  our  conduct,  that  we  do  not 
fear  war  in  the  necessary  protection  of  our  rights  and 
honor,  we  shall  give  no  room  to  infer  that  we  abandon 
the  desire  of  peace.  An  efficient  preparation  for  war 
can  alone  insure  peace.  It  is  peace  that  we  have  uni 
formly  and  perseveringly  cultivated  ;  and  harmony  be 
tween  us  and  France  may  be  restored  at  her  option.  But 
to  send  another  minister  without  more  determinate  assu 
rances  that  he  would  be  received,  would  be  an  act  of 
humiliation  to  which  the  United  States  ought  not  to  sub 
mit.  It  must  therefore  be  left  with  France  (if  she  is, 
indeed,  desirous  of  accommodation)  to  take  the  requisite 
steps.  The  United  States  will  steadily  observe  the  max 
ims  by  which  they  have  hitherto  been  governed.  They 
will  respect  the  sacred  rights  of  embassy.  And  with  a 
sincere  disposition  on  the  part  of  France  to  desist  from 
hostilities,  to  make  reparation  for  the  injuries  heretofore 
inflicted  on  our  commerce,  and  to  do  justice  in  future, 
there  will  be  no  obstacle  to  the  restoration  of  a  friendly 
intercourse.  In  making  to  you  this  declaration,  I  give  a 
pledge  to  France  and  the  world,  that  the  executive  au 
thority  of  this  country  still  adheres  to  the  humane  and 
pacific  policy  which  has  invariably  governed  its  proceed 
ings,  in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  the  other  branches 
of  the  government,  and  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  But  considering  the  late  manifestations  of  her 
policy  towards  foreign  nations,  I  deem  it  a  duty  delibe 
rately  and  solemnly  to  declare  my  opinion,  that,  whether 


92  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

we  negotiate  with  her  or  not,  vigorous  preparations  for 
war  will  be  alike  indispensable.  These  alone  will  give 
to  us  an  equal  treaty,  and  insure  its  observance. 

Among  the  measures  of  preparation  which  appear 
expedient,  I  take  the  liberty  to  recall  your  attention  to 
the  naval  establishment.  The  beneficial  effects  of  the 
small  naval  armament  provided  under  the  acts  of  the  last 
session,  are  known  and  acknowledged.  Perhaps  no 
country  ever  experienced  more  sudden  and  remarkable 
advantages  from  any  measure  of  policy  than  we  have 
derived  from  the  arming  for  our  maritime  protection  and 
defence.  We  ought,  without  loss  of  time,  to  lay  the 
foundation  for  an  increase  of  our  navy  to  a  size  sufficient 
to  guard  our  coast  and  protect  our  trade.  Such  a  naval 
force  as  it  is  doubtless  in  the  power  of  the  United  States 
to  create  and  maintain  would  also  afford  to  them  the  best 
means  of  general  defence,  by  facilitating  the  safe  trans 
portation  of  troops  and  stores  to  every  part  of  our  exten 
sive  coast.  To  accomplish  this  important  object,  a  pru 
dent  foresight  requires  that  systematical  measures  be 
adopted  for  procuring  at  all  times  the  requisite  timber 
and  other  supplies.  In  what  manner  this  shall  be  done,  I 
leave  for  your  consideration. 

I  will  now  advert,  gentlemen,  to  some  matters  of  less 
moment,  but  proper  to  be  communicated  to  the, national 
legislature. 

After  the  Spanish  garrisons  had  evacuated  the  posts 
they  occupied  at  the  Natchez  and  Walnut-hills,  the  com 
missioner  of  the  United  States  commenced  his  observa 
tions  to  ascertain  the  point  near  the  Mississippi  which 
terminated  the  northernmost  part  of  the  thirty-first  degree 
of  north  latitude.  From  thence  he  proceeded  to  run  the 
boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  He 
was  afterwards  joined  by  the  Spanish  commissioner,  when 
the  work  of  the  former  was  confirmed,  and  they  pro 
ceeded  together  to  the  demarkation  of  the  line.  Recent 
information  renders  it  probable  that  the  Southern  Indians, 
either  instigated  to  oppose  the  demarkation,  or  jealous 
of  the  consequences  of  suffering  white  people  to  run  a 
line  over  lands  to  which  the  Indian  title  had  not  been 
extinguished,  have,  ere  this  time,  stopped  the  progress  of 


SECOND    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  93 

the  commissioners.  And  considering  the  mischiefs  which 
may  result  from  continuing  the  demarkation  in  opposition 
to  the  will  of  the  Indian  tribes,  the  great  expense  attend 
ing  it,  and  that  the  boundaries  which  the  commissioners 
have  actually  established  probably  extend  at  least  as  far 
as  the  Indian  title  has  been  extinguished,  it  will  perhaps 
become  expedient  and  necessary  to  suspend  further  pro 
ceedings  by  recalling  our  commissioner. 

The  commissioners  appointed  in  pursuance  of  the  fifth 
article  of  the  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation 
between  the  United  States  and  his  Britannic  majesty,  to 
determine  what  river  was  truly  intended  under  the  name 
of  the  river  St.  Croix,  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  peace, 
and  forming  a  part  of  the  boundary  therein  described, 
have  finally  decided  that  question.  On  the  25th  of  Oc 
tober  they  made  their  declaration  that  a  river  called 
Schoodiac,  which  falls  into  Passamaquoddy  Bay  at  its 
north-western  quarter,  was  the  true  St.  Croix  intended  in 
the  treaty  of  peace,  as  far  as  its  great  fork,  where  one  of 
its  streams  conies  from  the  westward  and  the  other  from 
the  northward,  and  that  the  latter  stream  is  the  continua 
tion  of  the  St.  Croix  to  its  source.  This  decision,  it  is 
understood,  will  preclude  all  contention  among  indivi 
dual  claimants,  as  it  seems  that  the  Schoodiac  and  its 
northern  branch  bound  the  grants  of  lands  which  have 
been  made  by  the  respective  adjoining  governments.  A 
subordinate  question,  however,  it  has  been  suggested,  still 
remains  to  be  determined.  Between  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Croix  as  now  settled,  and  what  is  usually  called  the  bay 
of  Fundy,  lie  a  number  of  valuable  islands.  The  com 
missioners  have  not  continued  the  boundary  line  through 
any  channel  of  these  islands,  and  unless  the  bay  of  Passa 
maquoddy  be  a  part  of  the  bay  of  Fundy,  this  further 
adjustment  of  boundary  will  be  necessary.  But  it  is  ap 
prehended  that  this  will  not  be  a  matter  of  any  difficulty. 

Such  progress  has  been  made  in  the  examination  and 
decision  of  cases  of  captures  and  condemnations  of  Ame 
rican  vessels,  which  were  the  subject  of  the  seventh 
article  of  the  treaty  of  amity,  commerce  and  navigation 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  that  it  is 


94  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

supposed  the  commissioners  will  be  able  to  bring  their 
business  to  a  conclusion  in  August  of  the  ensuing  year. 

The  commissioners  acting  under  the  twenty-fifth  arti 
cle  of  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Spain, 
have  adjusted  most  of  the  claims  of  our  citizens  for  losses 
sustained  in  consequence  of  their  vessels  and  cargoes 
having  been  taken  by  the  subjects  of  his  Catholic  majesty 
during  the  late  war  between  France  and  Spain. 

Various  circumstances  have  occurred  to  delay  the  exe 
cution  of  the  law  for  augmenting  the  military  establish 
ment  ;  among  these,  the  desire  of  obtaining  the  fullest 
information  to  direct  the  best  selection  of  officers.  As 
this  object  will  now  be  speedily  accomplished,  it  is  ex 
pected  that  the  raising  and  organizing  of  the  troops  will 
proceed  without  obstacle,  and  with  effect. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  have  directed  an  estimate  of  the  appropriations  which 
will  be  necessary  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing  year  to 
be  laid  before  you,  accompanied  with  a  view  of  the  public 
receipts  and  expenditures  to  a  recent  period.  It  will 
afford  you  satisfaction  to  infer  the  great  extent  and  solid 
ity  of  the  public  resources  from  the  prosperous  state  of 
the  finances,  notwithstanding  the  unexampled  embarrass 
ments  which  have  attended  commerce.  When  you  reflect 
on  the  conspicuous  examples  of  patriotism  and  liberality 
which  have  been  exhibited  by  our  mercantile  fellow- 
citizens,  and  how  great  a  portion  of  the  public  resources 
depends  on  their  enterprise,  you  will  naturally  consider 
whether  their  convenience  cannot  be  promoted  and  re 
conciled  with  the  security  of  the  revenue  by  a  revision 
of  the  system  by  which  the  collection  is  at  present  regu 
lated. 

During  your  recess,  measures  have  been  steadily  pur 
sued  for  effecting  the  valuations  and  returns  directed  by 
the  act  of  the  last  session,  preliminary  to  the  assessment 
and  collection  of  a  direct  tax.  No  other  delays  or  obsta 
cles  have  been  experienced,  except  such  as  were  expected 
to  arise  from  the  great  extent  of  our  country  and  the 
magnitude  and  novelty  of  the  operation,  and  enough  has 


THIRD    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  95 

been  accomplished  to  assure  a  fulfilment  of  the  views  of 
the  legislature. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 
I  cannot  close  this  address  without  once  more  advert 
ing  to  our  political  situation,  and  inculcating  the  essen 
tial  importance  of  uniting  in  the  maintenance  of  our 
dearest  interests,  and  I  trust  that,  by  the  temper  and 
wisdom  of  your  proceedings,  and  by  a  harmony  of  mea 
sures,  we  shall  secure  to  our  country  that  weight  and 
respect  to  which  it  is  so  justly  entitled. 


THIRD  ANNUAL  ADDRESS, 

DECEMBER  3,   1799. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

It  is  with  peculiar  satisfaction  that  I  meet  the  Sixth 
Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Coming 
from  all  parts  of  the  Union  at  this  critical  and  interesting 
period,  the  members  must  be  fully  possessed  of  the  senti 
ments  and  wishes  of  our  constituents. 

The  flattering  prospects  of  abundance,  from  the  labors 
of  the  people,  by  land  and  by  sea ;  the  prosperity  of  our 
extended  commerce,  notwithstanding  interruptions  occa 
sioned  by  the  belligerent  state  of  a  great  part  of  the 
world;  the  return  of  health,  industry  and  trade  to  those 
cities  which  have  lately  been  afflicted  with  disease;  and 
the  various  and  inestimable  advantages,  civil  and  reli 
gious,  which,  secured  under  our  happy  frame  of  govern 
ment,  are  continued  to  us  unimpaired,  demand  of  the 
whole  American  people  sincere  thanks  to  a  benevolent 
Deity  for  the  merciful  dispensations  of  his  providence. 

But  while  these  numerous  blessings  are  recollected,  it 
is  a  painful  duty  to  advert  to  the  ungrateful  return  which 
has  been  made  for  them  by  some  of  the  people  in  certain 


96  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

counties  of  Pennsylvania,  where,  seduced  by  the  arts  and 
misrepresentations  of  designing  men,  they  have  openly 
resisted  the  law  directing  the  valuation  of  houses  and 
lands.  Such  defiance  was  given  to  the  civil  authority  as 
rendered  hopeless  all  further  attempts,  by  judicial  process, 
to  enforce  the  execution  of  the  law ;  and  it  became  ne 
cessary  to  direct  a  military  force  to  be  employed,  con 
sisting  of  some  companies  of  regular  troops,  volunteers, 
and  militia,  by  whose  zeal  and  activity,  in  co-operation 
with  the  judicial  power,  order  and  submission  were  re 
stored,  and  many  of  the  offenders  arrested.  Of  these, 
some  have  been  convicted  of  misdemeanors,  and  others, 
charged  with  various  crimes,  remain  to  be  tried. 

To  give  due  effect  to  the  civil  administration  of  gov 
ernment,  and  to  insure  a  just  execution  of  the  laws,  a 
revision  and  amendment  of  the  judiciary  system  is  indis 
pensably  necessary.  In  this  extensive  country  it  cannot 
but  happen  that  numerous  questions  respecting  the  inter 
pretation  of  the  laws  and  the  rights  and  duties  of  officers 
arid  citizens  must  arise.  On  the  one  hand,  the  laws 
should  be  executed ;  on  the  other,  individuals  should  be 
guarded  from  oppression  :  neither  of  these  objects  is  suf 
ficiently  assured  under  the  present  organization  of  the 
judicial  department.  I  therefore  earnestly  recommend 
the  subject  to  your  serious  consideration. 

Persevering  in  the  pacific  and  humane  policy  which 
has  been  invariably  professed  and  sincerely  pursued  by 
the  executive  authority  of  the  United  States,  when  indi 
cations  were  made,  on  the  part  of  the  French  republic, 
of  a  disposition  to  accommodate  the  existing  differences 
between  the  two  countries,  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to 
prepare  for  meeting  their  advances  by  a  nomination  of 
ministers  upon  certain  conditions  which  the  honor  of  our 
country  dictated,  and  which  its  moderation  had  given  it 
a  right  to  prescribe.  The  assurances  which  were  re 
quired  of  the  French  government,  previous  to  the  de 
parture  of  our  envoys,  have  been  given,  through  their 
minister  of  foreign  relations,  and  I  have  directed  them 
to  proceed  on  their  mission  to  Paris.  They  have  full 
power  to  conclude  a  treaty,  subject  to  the  constitutional 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  characters  of 


THIRD    ANNUAL   ADDRESS.  97 

these  gentlemen  are  sure  pledges  to  their  country  that 
nothing  incompatible  with  its  honor  or  interest,  nothing 
inconsistent  with  our  obligations  of  good  faith  or  friend 
ship  to  any  other  nation  will  be  stipulated. 

It  appearing  probable,  from  the  information  I  received, 
that  our  commercial  intercourse  with  some  ports  in  the 
Island  of  St.  Domingo  might  safely  be  renewed,  I  took 
such  steps  as  seemed  to  me  expedient  to  ascertain  that 
point.  The  result  being  satisfactory,  I  then,  in  con 
formity  with  the  act  of  Congress  on  the  subject,  directed 
the  restraints  and  prohibitions  of  that  intercourse  to  be 
discontinued,  on  terms  which  were  made  known  by  pro 
clamation.  Since  the  renewal  of  this  intercourse,  our 
citizens  trading  to  those  ports,  with  their  property,  have 
been  duly  respected,  and  privateering  from  those  ports 
has  ceased. 

In  examining  the  claims  of  British  subjects,  by  the 
commissioners  at  Philadelphia,  acting  under  the  sixth 
article  of  the  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation 
with  Great  Britain,  a  difference  of  opinion,  on  points 
deemed  essential  in  the  interpretation  of  that  article,  has 
arisen  between  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  United 
States,  and  the  other  members  of  that  board,  from  which 
the  former  have  thought  it  their  duty  to  withdraw.  It  is 
sincerely  to  be  regretted  that  the  execution  of  an  article 
produced  by  a  mutual  spirit  of  amity  and  justice  should 
have  been  thus  unavoidably  interrupted.  It  is,  however, 
confidently  expected  that  the  same  spirit  of  amity  and 
the  same  sense  of  justice,  in  which  it  originated,  will 
lead  to  satisfactory  explanations.  In  consequence  of  the 
obstacles  to  the  progress  of  the  commission  in  Philadel 
phia,  his  Britannic  majesty  has  directed  the  commissioners 
appointed  by  him  under  the  seventh  article  of  the  treaty 
relating  to  British  captures  of  American  vessels,  to  with 
draw  from  the  board  sitting  in  London,  but  with  the  ex 
press  declaration  of  his  determination  to  fulfil,  with 
punctuality  and  good  faith,  the  engagements  which  his 
majesty  has  contracted  by  his  treaty  with  the  United 
States,  and  that  they  will  be  instructed  to  resume  their 
functions  whenever  the  obstacles  which  impede  the  pro 
gress  of  the  commission  at  Philadelphia  shall  be  removed. 

VOL.  II.  9 


98  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

It  being  in  like  manner  my  sincere  determination,  so  far 
as  the  same  depends  on  me,  that  with  equal  punctuality 
and  good  faith,  the  engagements  contracted  by  the  United 
States,  in  their  treaties  with  his  Britannic  majesty,  shall 
be  fulfilled,  I  shall  immediately  instruct  our  minister  at 
London  to  endeavor  to  obtain  the  explanations  necessary 
to  a  just  performance  of  those  engagements  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States.  With  such  dispositions  on  both 
sides,  I  cannot  entertain  a  doubt  that  all  difficulties  will 
soon  be  removed,  and  that  the  two  boards  will  then  pro 
ceed  and  bring  the  business  committed  to  them  respec 
tively  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 

The  act  of  Congress  relative  to  the  seat  of  government 
of  the  United  States  requiring  that,  on  the  first  Monday 
of  December  next,  it  should  be  transferred  from  Phila 
delphia  to  the  district  chosen  for  its  permanent  seat,  it 
is  proper  for  me  to  inform  you  that  the  commissioners 
appointed  to  provide  suitable  buildings  for  the  accommo 
dation  of  Congress  and  of  the  President,  and  for  the 
public  offices  of  the  government,  have  made  a  report  of 
the  state  of  the  buildings  designed  for  those  purposes  in 
the  city  of  Washington,  from  which  they  conclude  that 
the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to  that  place  at 
the  time  required  will  be  practicable,  and  the  accommo 
dation  satisfactory.  Their  report  will  be  laid  before  you. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  shall  direct  the  estimates  of  the  appropriations  ne 
cessary  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing  year,  together  with 
an  account  of  the  revenue  and  expenditure,  to  be  laid 
before  you.  During  a  period  in  which  a  great  portion 
of  the  civilized  world  has  been  involved  in  a  war  unu 
sually  calamitous  and  destructive,  it  was  not  to  be  ex 
pected  that  the  United  States  could  be  exempted  from 
extraordinary  burdens.  Although  the  period  is  not  ar 
rived  when  the  measures  adopted  to  secure  our  country 
against  foreign  attacks  can  be  renounced,  yet  it  is  alike 
necessary  to  the  honor  of  the  government  and  the  satis 
faction  of  the  community,  that  an  exact  economy  should 
be  maintained.  I  invite  you,  gentlemen,  to  investigate 
the  different  branches  of  the  public  expenditure;  the 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  99 

examination  will  lead  to  beneficial  retrenchments,  or 
produce  a  conviction  of  the  wisdom  of  the  measures  to 
which  the  expenditure  relates. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

At  a  period  like  the  present,  when  momentous  changes 
are  occurring,  and  every  hour  is  preparing  new  and  great 
events  in  the  political  world ;  when  a  spirit  of  war  is 
prevalent  in  almost  every  nation  with  whose  affairs  the 
interests  of  the  United  States  have  any  connection  :  unsafe 
and  precarious  would  be  our  situation  were  we  to  neglect 
the  means  of  maintaining  our  just  rights.  The  result 
of  the  mission  to  France  is  uncertain  ;  but,  however  it 
may  terminate,  a  steady  perseverance  in  a  system  of 
national  defence,  commensurate  with  our  resources  and 
the  situation  of  our  country,  is  an  obvious  dictate  of 
wisdom.  For,  remote  as  we  are  placed  from  the  belli 
gerent  nations,  and  desirous  as  we  are,  by  doing  justice 
to  all,  to  avoid  offence  to  any,  nothing  short  of  the  power 
of  repelling  aggressions  will  secure  to  our  country  a  ra 
tional  prospect  of  escaping  the  calamities  of  war  or  na 
tional  degradation.  As  to  myself,  it  is  my  anxious  desire 
so  to  execute  the  trust  reposed  in  me  as  to  render  the 
people  of  the  United  States  prosperous  and  happy.  I 
rely  with  entire  confidence  on  your  co-operation  in  ob 
jects  equally  your  care,  and  that  our  mutual  labors  will 
serve  to  increase  and  confirm  union  among  our  fellow- 
citizens,  and  an  unshaken  attachment  to  our  government. 


SPECIAL  MESSAGE. 

DECEMBER   23,   1799. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate : 

I  receive  with  the  most  respectful  and  affectionate 
sentiments,  in  your  impressive  address,  the  obliging  ex 
pressions  of  your  regard  for  the  loss  our  country  has 


100  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

sustained  in  the  death  of  her  most  esteemed,  beloved, 
and  admired  citizen. 

In  the  multitude  of  my  thoughts  and  recollections  on 
this  melancholy  event,  you  will  permit  me  to  say,  that 
I  have  seen  him  in  the  days  of  adversity,  in  some  of  the 
scenes  of  his  deepest  distress  and  most  trying  perplex 
ities.  I  have  also  attended  him  in  his  highest  elevation 
and  most  prosperous  felicity,  with  uniform  admiration  of 
his  wisdom,  moderation,  and  constancy. 

Among  all  our  original  associates  in  that  memorable 
league  of  the  continent  in  1774,  which  first  expressed 
the  sovereign  will  of  a  free  nation  in  America,  he  was 
the  only  one  remaining  in  the  general  government.  Al 
though  with  a  constitution  more  enfeebled  than  his,  at  an 
age  when  he  thought  it  necessary  to  prepare  for  retire 
ment,  I  feel  myself  alone,  bereaved  of  my  last  brother ; 
yet  I  derive  a  strong  consolation  from  the  unanimous 
disposition  which  appears,  in  all  ages  and  classes,  to 
mingle  their  sorrows  with  mine  on  this  common  calamity 
to  the  world. 

The  life  of  our  Washington  cannot  suffer  by  a  com 
parison  with  those  of  other  countries  who  have  been  most 
celebrated  and  exalted  by  fame.  The  attributes  and  de 
corations  of  royalty  could  have  only  served  to  eclipse  the 
majesty  of  those  virtues  which  made  him,  from  being  a 
modest  citizen,  a  more  resplendent  luminary.  Misfor 
tune,  had  he  lived,  could  hereafter  have  sullied  his  glory 
only  with  those  superficial  minds,  who  believing  that 
characters  and  actions  are  marked  by  success  alone,  rarely 
deserve  to  enjoy  it.  Malice  could  never  blast  his  honor, 
and  envy  made  him  a  singular  exception  to  her  universal 
rule.  For  himself,  he  had  lived  enough  to  life  and  to 
glory.  For  his  fellow-citizens,  if  their  prayers  could 
have  been  answered,  he  would  have  been  immortal.  For 
me,  his  departure  is  at  a  most  unfortunate  moment. 
Trusting,  however,  in  the  wise  and  righteous  dominion 
of  Providence  over  the  passions  of  men,  and  the  results 
of  their  councils  and  actions,  as  well  as  over  their  lives, 
nothing  remains  for  me  but  humble  resignation. 

His  example  is  now  complete,  and  it  will  teach  wisdom 
and  virtue  to  magistrates,  citizens,  and  men,  not  only  in 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  101 

the  present  age,  but  in  future  generations,  as  long  as  our 
history  shall  be  read.  If  a  Trajan  found  a  Pliny,  a 
Marcus  Aurelius  can  never  want  biographers,  eulogists, 
or  historians. 


SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 

JANUARY    8,    1800 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

In  compliance  with  the  request  in  one  of  the  resolu 
tions  of  Congress  of  the  21st  of  December  last,  I  trans 
mitted  a  copy  of  those  resolutions,  by  my  secretary,  Mr. 
Shaw,  to  Mrs.  Washington,  assuring  her  of  the  profound 
respect  Congress  will  ever  bear  to  her  person  and  charac 
ter  ;  of  their  condolence  in  the  late  afflicting  dispensa 
tion  of  Providence  ;  and  entreating  her  assent  to  the  in 
terment  of  the  remains  of  General  George  Washington  in 
the  manner  expressed  in  the  first  resolution.  As  the  sen 
timents  of  that  virtuous  lady,  not  less  beloved  by  this  na 
tion  than  she  is  at  present  greatly  afflicted,  can  never  be 
so  well  expressed  as  in  her  own  words,  I  transmit  to  Con 
gress  her  original  letter. 

It  would  be  an  attempt  of  too  much  delicacy  to  make 
any  comments  upon  it  ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  nation  at  large,  as  well  as  all  the  branches  of  the  go 
vernment,  will  be  highly  gratified  by  any  arrangement 
which  may  diminish  the  sacrifice  she  makes  of  her  per 
sonal  feelings. 

Mount  Vernon,  Dec.  31,  1799. 

SIR  :  While  I  feel  with  the  keenest  anguish  the  late 
dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  I  cannot  be  insensi 
ble  to  the  mournful  tributes  of  respect  and  veneration 
which  are  paid  to  the  memory  of  my  dear  deceased  hus 
band  ;  and,  as  his  best  services  and  most  anxious  wishes 
were  always  devoted  to  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  his 
country,  to  know  that  they  were  truly  appreciated  and 
VOL.  n.  9* 


102  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

gratefully  remembered  affords  no  inconsiderable  consola 
tion. 

Taught  by  that  great  example  which  I  have  so  long  had 
before  me,  never  to  oppose  my  private  wishes  to  the  pub 
lic  will,  I  must  consent  to  the  request  made  by  Congress, 
which  you  have  had  the  goodness  to  transmit  to  me ;  and, 
in  doing  this,  I  need  not,  I  cannot,  say  what  a  sacrifice 
of  individual  feeling  I  make  to  a  sense  of  public  duty. 

With  grateful  acknowledgments  and  unfeigned  thanks 
for  the  personal  respect  and  evidences  of  condolence,  ex 
pressed  by  Congress  and  yourself, 
I  remain,  very  respectfully,  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

MARTHA  WASHINGTON. 


FOURTH  ANNUAL   ADDRESS, 

NOVEMBER   22,  1800. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  at 
their  last  session  at  Philadelphia,  I  gave  directions,  in 
compliance  with  the  laws,  for  the  removal  of  the  public 
offices,  records,  and  property.  These  directions  have 
been  executed,  and  the  public  officers  have  since  resided 
and  conducted  the  ordinary  business  of  the  government 
in  this  place. 

I  congratulate  the  people  of  the  United  States  on  the 
assembling  of  Congress  at  the  permanent  seat  of  their  go 
vernment  ;  and  I  congratulate  you,  gentlemen,  on  the 
prospect  of  a  residence  not  to  be  changed.  Although 
there  is  cause  to  apprehend  that  accommodations  are  not 
now  so  complete  as  might  be  wished,  yet  there  is  great 
reason  to  believe  that  this  inconvenience  will  cease  with 
the  present  session. 

It  would  be  unbecoming  the  representatives  of  this  na 
tion  to  assemble,  for  the  first  time,  in  this  solemn  temple, 
without  looking  up  to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe, 
and  imploring  his  blessing. 


FOURTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  103 

May  this  territory  be  the  residence  of  virtue  and  hap 
piness  !  In  this  city  may  that  piety  and  virtue,  that  wis 
dom  and  magnanimity,  that  constancy  and  self-govern 
ment  which  adorned  the  great  character  whose  name  it 
bears,  be  forever  held  in  veneration  !  Here,  and  through 
out  our  country,  may  simple  manners,  pure  morals,  and 
true  religion,  flourish  forever  ! 

It  is  with  you,  gentlemen,  to  consider  whether  the  lo 
cal  powers  over  the  District  of  Columbia,  vested  by  the 
constitution  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  shall 
be  immediately  exercised.  If,  in  your  opinion,  this  im 
portant  trust  ought  now  to  be  executed,  you  cannot  fail, 
while  performing  it,  to  take  into  view  the  future  probable 
situation  of  the  territory  for  the  happiness  of  which  you 
are  about  to  provide.  You  will  consider  it  as  the  capital 
of  a  great  nation,  advancing  with  unexampled  rapidity, 
in  arts,  in  commerce,  in  wealth,  and  in  population ;  and 
possessing  within  itself  those  energies  and  resources 
which,  if  not  thrown  away,  or  lamentably  misdirected, 
will  secure  to  it  a  long  course  of  prosperity  and  self-go 
vernment. 

In  compliance  with  a  law  of  the  last  session  of  Con 
gress,  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  temporary  army 
have  been  discharged.  It  affords  real  pleasure  to  recol 
lect  the  honorable  testimony  they  gave  the  patriotic  mo 
tives  which  brought  them  into  the  service  of  their  coun 
try,  by  the  readiness  and  regularity  with  which  they  re 
turned  to  the  station  of  private  citizens. 

It  is,  in  every  point  of  view,  of  such  primary  impor 
tance  to  carry  the  laws  into  prompt  arid  faithful  execu 
tion,  and  to  render  that  part  of  the  administration  of 
justice  which  the  constitution  and  laws  devolve  on  the 
federal  courts  as  convenient  to  the  people  as  may  consist 
with  their  present  circumstances,  that  I  cannot  omit  once 
more  to  recommend  to  your  serious  consideration  the  ju 
diciary  system  of  the  United  States.  No  subject  is  more 
interesting  than  this  to  the  public  happiness,  and  to  none 
can  those  improvements  which  may  have  been  suggested 
by  experience  be  more  beneficially  applied. 

A  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  with  the  king  of 
Prussia  has  been  concluded  and  ratified.  The  ratifica- 


104  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tions  have  been  exchanged,  and  I  have  directed  the  treaty 
to  be  promulgated  by  proclamation. 

The  difficulties  which  suspended  the  execution  of  the 
sixth  article  of  our  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navi 
gation  with  Great  Britain,  have  not  yet  been  removed. 
The  negotiation  on  this  subject  is  still  depending.  As 
it  must  be  for  the  interest  and  honor  of  both  nations  to 
adjust  this  difference  with  good  faith,  I  indulge  confident 
ly  the  expectation  that  the  sincere  endeavors  of  the  go 
vernment  of  the  United  States  to  bring  it  to  an  amicable 
termination  will  not  be  disappointed. 

The  envoys  extraordinary  and  ministers  plenipotentiary 
from  the  United  States  to  France  were  received  by  the 
first  consul  with  the  respect  due  to  their  character,  and 
three  persons,  with  equal  powers,  were  appointed  to  treat 
with  them.  Although,  at  the  date  of  the  last  official  in 
telligence,  the  negotiation  had  not  terminated,  yet  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  our  efforts  to  effect  an  accommodation  will 
at  length  meet  with  a  success  proportioned  to  the  sinceri 
ty  with  which  they  have  been  so  often  repeated. 

While  our  best  endeavors  for  the  preservation  of  har 
mony  with  all  nations  will  continue  to  be  used,  the  expe 
rience  of  the  world  and  our  own  experience  admonish  us 
of  the  insecurity  of  trusting  too  confidently  to  their  suc 
cess.  We  cannot,  without  committing  a  dangerous 
imprudence,  abandon  those  measures  of  self-protection 
which  are  adapted  to  our  situation,  and  to  which,  not 
withstanding  our  pacific  policy,  the  violence  and  injus 
tice  of  others  may  compel  us  to  resort.  While  our 
vast  extent  of  seacoast,  the  commercial  and  agricultural 
habits  of  our  people,  the  great  capital  they  will  continue 
to  trust  on  the  ocean,  suggest  the  system  of  defence 
which  will  be  most  beneficial  to  ourselves,  our  distance 
from  Europe,  and  our  resources  for  maritime  strength 
will  enable  us  to  employ  it  with  effect.  Seasonable  and 
systematic  arrangements,  so  far  as  our  resources  will  jus 
tify,  for  a  navy,  adapted  for  defensive  war,  and  which 
may,  in  case  of  necessity,  be  quickly  brought  into  use, 
seem  to  be  as  much  recommended  by  a  wise  and  true 
economy  as  by  a  just  regard  for  our  future  tranquillity, 


FOURTH    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  105 

for  the  safety  of  our  shores,  and  for  the  protection  of  our 
property  committed  to  the  ocean. 

The  present  navy  of  the  United  States,  called  suddenly 
into  existence  by  a  great  national  exigency,  has  raised 
us  in  our  own  esteem,  and  by  the  protection  afforded  to 
our  commerce  has  effected,  to  the  extent  of  our  expecta 
tions,  the  objects  for  which  it  was  created. 

In  connection  with  a  navy  ought  to  be  contemplated 
the  fortification  of  some  of  our  principal  seaports  and 
harbors.  A  variety  of  considerations,  which  will  readily 
suggest  themselves,  urge  an  attention  to  this  measure  of 
precaution.  To  give  security  to  our  principal  ports,  con 
siderable  sums  have  already  been  expended,  but  the 
works  remain  incomplete.  It  is  for  Congress  to  deter 
mine  whether  additional  appropriations  shall  be  made,  in 
order  to  render  competent  to  the  intended  purposes  the 
fortifications  which  have  been  commenced. 

The  manufacture  of  arms  within  the  United  States  still 
invites  the  attention  of  the  national  legislature.  At  a 
considerable  expense  to  the  public,  this  manufacture  has 
been  brought  to  such  a  state  of  maturity  as,  with  contin 
ued  encouragement,  will  supersede  the  necessity  of  future 
importations  from  foreign  countries. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  shall  direct  the  estimates  of  the  appropriations  ne 
cessary  for  the  ensuing  year,  together  with  an  account  of 
the  public  revenue  and  expenditure,  to  a  later  period,  to 
be  laid  before  you.  I  observe,  with  much  satisfaction, 
that  the  product  of  the  revenue  during  the  present  year 
has  been  more  considerable  than  during  any  former  equal 
period.  This  result  affords  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
great  resources  of  this  country,  and  of  the  wisdom  and 
efficiency  of  the  measures  which  have  been  adopted  by 
Congress  for  the  protection  of  commerce  and  preserva 
tion  of  public  credit. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

As  one  of  the  grand  community  of  nations,  our  atten 
tion  is  irresistibly  drawn  to  the  important  scenes  which 


106  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

surround  us.  If  they  have  exhibited  an  uncommon  por 
tion  of  calamity,  it  is  the  province  of  humanity  to  de 
plore,  and  of  wisdom  to  avoid,  the  causes  which  may 
have  produced  it.  If,  turning  our  eyes  homeward,  we 
find  reason  to  rejoice  at  the  prospect  which  presents  itself; 
if  we  perceive  the  interior  of  our  country  prosperous, 
free,  and  happy,  if  all  enjoy  safety,  under  the  protection 
of  laws  emanating  only  from  the  general  will,  the  fruits 
of  their  own  labor,  we  ought  to  fortify  and  cling  to  those 
institutions  which  have  been  the  source  of  much  real  feli 
city,  and  resist  with  unabating  perseverance  the  progress 
of  those  dangerous  innovations  which  may  diminish  their 
influence. 

To  your  patriotism,  gentlemen,  has  been  confided  the 
honorable  duty  of  guarding  the  public  interests;  and, 
while  the  past  is  to  your  country  a  sure  pledge  that  it 
will  be  faithfully  discharged,  permit  me  to  asssure  you 
that  your  labors  to  promote  the  general  happiness  will 
receive  from  me  the  most  zealous  co-operation. 


TfflKDf 
Apiil2.1743.Inl80L  Obt.July  4.18 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  the  third  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  on  the  2d  day  of  April,  (O.  S.)  1743, 
at  Shadwell,  in  Albemarle  County,  Virginia.  Of  the  first 
incidents  of  his  life  very  little  is  recorded.  We  first  hear 
of  him  as  a  student  in  the  college  of  William  and  Mary, 
and,  still  ignorant  of  what  success  he  met  with  in  his 
literary  pursuits  at  this  institution,  we  find  him  a  student 
at  law  in  the  office  of  George  Wythe.  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1766,  and  pursued  his  profession 
with  zeal  and  success,  and  during  the  short  period  in 
which  he  devoted  himself  to  its  practice,  he  acquired 
considerable  reputation,  and  there  still  exists  a  monument 
of  his  early  labor  and  talents  in  a  volume  of  Reports  of 
Cases  in  the  Supreme  Courts  of  Virginia. 

He  was  not,  however,  permitted  long  to  remain  in  a 
private  station.  We  find  him,  as  early  as  1769,  a  dis 
tinguished  member  of  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  asso 
ciated  with  men  whose  names  have  come  down  to  us  as 
the  earliest  and  most  determined  champions  of  our  rights. 

On  the  first  of  January,  1772,  Mr.  Jefferson  married 
the  daughter  of  Mr.  Wayles,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Vir 
ginia.  On  the  12th  of  March,  1773,  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  first  committee  of  corre 
spondence,  established  by  the  colonial  legislatures,  one 
of  the  most  important  acts  of  the  Revolution,  and  which 
paved  the  way  for  that  union  of  action  and  sentiment, 
from  which  arose  the  first  effective  resistance,  and  on 
which  depended  the  successful  conduct  and  final  triumph 
of  the  cause. 


103  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

In  1774,  we  still  find  Mr.  Jefferson  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  legislature.  In  March,  1775,  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
elected  a  delegate  to  the  General  Congress,  and  took  his 
seat  in  that  body  on  the  21st  of  June.  He  was  an  active 
and  efficient  member.  In  August  he  was  again  chosen 
to  the  same  body;  in  which,  being  on  the  committee  ap 
pointed  to  prepare  a  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence,  he  drew  up  the  one  which  was  finally  adopted.  In 
the  autumn  of  1776,  he  returned  to  Virginia.  He  was 
tendered  the  office  of  commissioner  to  France,  with  Dr. 
Franklin  and  Silas  Deane,  but  declined  the  appointment, 
and  remained  during  the  year  in  his  native  state,  devo 
ting  himself  assiduously  to  her  concerns.  He  was,  for 
more  than  two  years,  actively  engaged  in  revising  the 
statutes  of  Virginia,  and  adapting  them  to  the  new  con 
dition  of  things.  To  his  labors  Virginia  is  indebted  for 
some  of  her  most  important  statutes. 

In  June,  1779,  Mr.  Jefferson  succeeded  Patrick  Hen 
ry,  as  governor  of  the  state.  In  1782,  he  was  appointed 
minister  plenipotentiary,  with  those  then  in  Europe,  to 
negotiate  for  peace  ;  but,  before  his  departure,  the  wel 
come  intelligence  was  received,  that  peace  had  been  con 
cluded.  In  June,  1783,  he  was  again  elected  to  Con 
gress. 

In  May,  1784,  he  was  a  third  time  appointed  on  an 
embassy,  and  went  to  Paris.  He  was  absent  on  his  mis 
sion  more  than  four  years,  and  visited  Holland  and  Italy. 
Peace  having  been  restored,  and  the  government  put  in 
operation,  Gen.  Washington  tendered  to  Mr.  Jefferson 
the  first  office  in  his  cabinet,  as  secretary  of  state.  He 
held  the  office  until  the  close  of  1793,  when  he  resigned. 
In  1801,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  United  States  by 
the  House  of  Representatives,  the  people  in  their  colleges 
having  failed  to  make  a  choice.  He  continued  in  this 


LIFE   OP  JEFFERSON.  109 

high  office  eight  years,  and,  during  his  administration, 
some  important  measures  were  adopted  ;  the  most  impor 
tant  of  which  was  the  purchase  of  Louisiana.  When 
his  second  term  of  office  expired,  he  retired  to  his  estate 
in  Virginia,  and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  phi 
losophical  pursuits,  and  the  oversight  of  his  plantation. 

Of  all  our  public  men,  the  greatest  injustice  has  been 
done  to  Mr.  Jefferson.  The  character  of  the  two  great 
parties  which  have  divided  this  country,  from  the  founda 
tion  of  the  government,  has  not  been  fairly  exhibited 
before  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  Mr.  Jefferson,  the 
acknowledged  head  of  the  democratic  party,  presents  a 
fit  occasion  for  vindicating  that  party,  in  the  purity  of 
their  motives,  the  justness  of  their  views,  the  wisdom  of 
their  policy,  from  the  criminations  to  which  they  have 
been  subjected,  by  exhibiting,  in  a  short  sketch  of  his 
most  valuable  life,  his  views  in  common  with  the  true 
democratic  party  then,  and  at  this  day,  of  the  policy  and 
measures  to  be  pursued  to  perpetuate  and  prolong  the 
glorious  institutions  of  this  country.  Honest,  credulous, 
unsuspecting  individuals  are  often  cheated  out  of  their 
liberty  by  their  confidence  in  the  promises  and  profes 
sions  of  others.  Mr.  Jefferson  says,  we  are  likely  to 
preserve^  the  liberty  we  have  obtained  only  by  unremit 
ting  labors  and  perils. 

Mr.  Jefferson  arrived  at  New  York  on  the  21st  of 
March,  1790,  and  here  commenced  a  new  and  important 
epoch  of  his  life.  From  this  time,  until  he  retired  from 
public  affairs,  in  March,  1809,  a  period  of  nineteen  years, 
his  history  is  closely  connected  with  the  history  of  his 
country ;  and  it  is  emphatically  and  completely  a  history 
of  the  political  parties  into  which  that  country  has  been 
divided. 

As  soon  as  the  thirteen  colonies  had  formed  themselves 

VOL.  II.  10 


110  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

into  one  nation,  having  the  same  general  interests,  they 
furnished  another  example  of  this  portion  of  human  des 
tiny,  which  even  the  sense  of  common  danger  and  the 
aspirations  after  the  common  blessing  of  independence 
could  check,  but  was  not  able  altogether  to  extinguish. 

One  of  the  first,  as  well  as  most  interesting  occasions 
for  a  diiference  of  opinion  which  presented  itself,  was 
the  precise  character  of  the  political  connection  which 
should  exist  among  the  several  states,  which  had,  by  a 
joint  effort  and  a  common  triumph,  effected  a  separation 
from  their  European  rulers.  Besides  these  general  specu 
lations  in  favor  of  a  political  union,  there  was  another 
consideration  which  had  a  more  general  and  immediate 
operation,  because  it  was  felt  as  well  as  seen.  The  peo 
ple  had  practically  experienced,  since  the  peace,  the  in 
convenience  of  so  many  independent  sovereignties,  in 
their  conflicting  regulations  of  foreign  trade.  The  bene 
fits  to  be  derived  from  the  union  were  the  greater,  from 
the  fact  that  one  division  of  the  states  was  agricultural 
in  its  pursuits,  and  the  other  commercial.  With  such 
strong  inducements  for  a  united  government,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  belief  of  its  necessity  was  very  prevalent. 
But  about  the  character  of  the  confederacy,  men  were 
much  divided ;  and  some  saw,  or  thought  they  saw,  in 
too  close  a  union,  dangers  as  great,  and  consequences  as 
distasteful,  as  in  their  entire  separation.  It  was  believed 
by  many  that  the  territorial  extent  of  the  country,  and 
the  great  diversity  of  character,  habits,  and  pursuits, 
among  the  several  states,  presented  insuperable  obstacles 
to  a  closer  union  than  already  existed,  some  states  being 
addicted  to  commerce,  and  others  exclusively  agricul 
tural  ;  some  having  domestic  slavery  entwined  in  their 
civil  policy,  and  others  free  from  that  institution,  and 
averse  to  it.  Of  this  description  were  the  sentiments 


LIFE    OF    JEFFERSON.  Ill 

and  motives  on  the  subject  of  a  national  government 
which  floated  in  men's  minds  for  three  or  four  years  after 
the  peace  of  1783.  But  when  they  had  produced  a  ge 
neral  convention  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  constitu 
tion,  the  community  settled  down  into  two  great  parties 
of  federalists  and  anti-federalists;  the  first  believing  the 
most  imminent  danger  to  our  peace  and  prosperity  was 
in  disunion ;  and  that  popular  jealousy,  always  of  itself 
sufficiently  active,  would,  when  artfully  inflamed  by  am 
bitious  demagogues,  withhold  that  portion  of  power  which 
was  essential  to  good  order  and  rational  safety  ;  the  last 
believing  that  the  danger  most  to  be  apprehended  was  in 
too  close  a  union,  and  that  their  powerful  opponents 
wished  a  consolidated,  and  even  a  monarchical  govern 
ment. 

This  imputation  of  the  anti-federal  party  against  their 
leading  adversaries,  that  they  were  desirous  of  paving 
the  way  for  a  monarchy,  is  one  among  those  points  on 
which  the  two  parties  have  most  warmly  disputed.  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  one  of  those  who  gave  credit  to  the  charge  ; 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  when  he  considered  that 
all  his  party  feelings  had  passed  away,  and  when  they 
unquestionably  must  have  greatly  abated,  he  revises  the 
evidence  which  he  had  formerly  collected  on  this  subject, 
and  rejecting  that  part  which  further  experience  and 
cooler  views  had  disapproved,  he  still  maintains  that  some 
of  our  principal  politicians,  at  the  time  the  constitution 
was  formed,  gave  a  deliberate  preference  to  monarchical 
government.  But  in  addition  to  the  probability  of  those 
opinions  deduced  from  general  reasoning,  we  have  the 
direct  evidence  of  many  facts  to  show  that  a  kindred 
desire  of  the  artificial  distinctions  of  rank  prevailed. 
Of  this  character  were  the  fondness  with  which  the  so 
ciety  of  the  Cincinnati  clung  to  that  institution,  and  the 


112  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

reluctance  with  which  they  relinquished  the  hereditary 
principle ;  the  actual  attempt  to  bestow  a  titular  dignity 
on  the  office  of  President ;  the  further  attempts  to  make 
a  distinction  between  the  members  of  the  senate  and  the 
house  of  representatives,  both  as  to  their  daily  compen 
sation  and  the  style  of  their  address ;  the  imitation  of 
regal  forms,  so  far  as  public  opinion  would  tolerate  them, 
in  the  President's  morning  levees  ;  in  his  opening  speech 
es  at  each  session  of  Congress,  and  in  the  ceremonial 
adopted  when  he  appeared  in  public ;  and  the  fact  that, 
at  a  ball  in  New  York,  a  raised  seat,  obviously  and  pur 
posely  having  an  analogy  to  a  throne,  was  prepared  for 
the  President  and  Mrs.  Washington.  Besides,  the  predi 
lections  of  Alexander  Hamilton  for  a  monarchical  go 
vernment  were  well  known — with  his  usual  frankness  he 
did  not  disguise  them  from  his  friends  ;  and  it  furnished 
a  fair  presumption  that  those  who  admired  him  as  a  poli 
tician,  and  supported  all  his  measures,  could  not  have 
strongly  objected  to  his  principles. 

Such  we  can  easily  suppose  to  have  been  the  views  of 
Mr.  Hamilton,  Mr.  Adams,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
those  whose  opinions  on  government  had  been  formed 
before  the  Revolution.  But  the  speculations  on  political 
rights,  to  which  the  contest  with  Great  Britain  and  the 
question  of  independence  gave  rise,  greatly  favored  the 
doctrines  of  political  equality  and  the  hatred  of  power  in 
any  form  that  could  control  the  public  will.  There  are 
in  the  heart  of  every  man  principles  which  readily  pre 
pare  him  for  republican  doctrines.  The  leading  states 
men  differ ;  some  preferring  the  republican  form  in  the 
ory,  and  believing  that  no  other  would  be  tolerated  in 
practice  ;  and  others  regretting  that  they  were  obliged  to 
yield  so  far  to  popular  prejudice  as  to  forego  the  form 
they  deemed  the  best,  but  determined  to  avail  themselves 


LIFE    OF    JEFFERSON.  113 

of  every  opportunity  of  improving  the  existing  govern 
ment  into  that  form.  There  were  strong  reasons  why 
Mr.  Jefferson's  sentiments  should  be  of  an  opposite  cha 
racter.  He  had  always  been  among  the  foremost  of  his 
countrymen  in  favor  of  popular  rights. 

Mr.  Jefferson  arrived  at  New  York,  in  March,  1790. 
He  remarks, — "  Here  I  found  a  state  of  things,  which,  of 
all  I  had  ever  contemplated,  I  the  least  expected.  I  had 
left  France  in  the  first  year  of  her  revolution,  in  the  fervor 
of  natural  rights  and  zeal  for  reformation.  My  conscien 
tious  devotion  to  these  rights  could  not  be  heightened ; 
but  it  had  been  aroused  and  excited  by  daily  exercise. 
The  President  received  me  cordially,  and  my  colleagues 
and  the  circle  of  principal  citizens  apparently  with  wel 
come.  The  courtesies  of  dinner  parties,  given  me  as  a 
stranger  newly  arrived  among  them,  placed  me  at  once  in 
their  familiar  society.  But  I  cannot  describe  the  wonder 
and  mortification  with  which  the  table  conversation  filled 
me.  Politics  were  the  chief  topic,  and  a  preference  of 
kingly  over  republican  government  was  evidently  the  fa 
vorite  sentiment.  An  apostate  I  could  not  be,  nor  yet  a 
hypocrite,  and  I  found  myself,  for  the  most  part,  the  only 
advocate  on  the  republican  side  of  the  question,  unless 
among  the  guests  there  chanced  to  be  some  member  of 
that  party  from  the  legislative  houses.  Hamilton's  finan 
cial  system  had  then  passed.  It  had  two  objects — 1st,  as 
a  puzzle  to  exclude  popular  understanding  and  inquiry ; 
2d,  as  a  machine  for  the  corruption  of  the  legislature  ;  for 
he  avowed  the  opinion  that  man  could  be  governed  by  one 
of  two  motives  only,  force  or  interest ;  force,  he  observed, 
in  this  country,  was  out  of  the  question,  and  the  interests 
therefore  of  the  members  must  be  laid  hold  of,  to  keep 
the  legislature  in  unison  with  the  executive.  And  with 
grief  and  shame  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  his  ma* 

VOL.   II.  10* 


114  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

chine  was  not  without  effect;  that  even  in  this,  the 
birth  of  our  government,  some  members  were  found  sor 
did  enough  to  bend  their  duty  to  their  interests,  and  to 
look  after  personal  rather  than  public  good." 

In  April,  General  Washington,  having  determined  to 
make  a  tour  through  the  southern  states,  addressed  a  let 
ter  to  the  secretaries,  Jefferson,  Hamilton,  and  Knox, 
informing  them  of  the  time  he  expected  to  reach  and 
leave  each  principal  town  in  his  route,  that  they  might 
communicate  with  him  whenever  occasion  required  it. 

Some  occasion  for  consultation  having  occurred  during 
the  President's  absence,  Mr.  Jefferson  accordingly  invited 
Mr.  Adams,  together  with  the  secretaries  of  the  treasury 
and  war  and  the  attorney-general,  to  dinner,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  conferring  on  the  subject. 

A  conversation  took  place,  of  which  he  gives  the  fol 
lowing  account. 

"  After  the  cloth  was  removed,  and  our  question  argued 
and  dismissed,  conversation  began  on  other  matters,  and 
by  some  circumstance  was  led  to  the  British  constitution, 
on  which  Mr.  Adams  observed,  '  Purge  that  constitution 
of  its  corruption,  and  give  to  its  popular  branch  equality 
of  representation,  and  it  would  be  the  most  perfect  con 
stitution  ever  devised  by  the  wit  of  man.'  Hamilton 
paused  and  said,  '  Purge  it  of  its  corruption,  and  give  to 
its  popular  branch  equality  of  representation,  and  it  would 
become  an  impracticable  government ;  as  it  stands  at  pre 
sent,  with  all  its  supposed  defects,  it  is  the  most  perfect 
government  which  ever  existed.'  And  this  was  assured 
ly  the  exact  line  which  supported  the  political  creeds  of 
these  two  gentlemen.  The  one  was  for  two  hereditary 
branches  and  an  honest  elective  one ;  the  other,  for  an 
hereditary  king,  with  a  house  of  lords  and  commons, 
corrupted  to  his  will,  and  standing  between  him  and  the 


LIFE    OF   JEFFERSON.  115 

people.  Mr.  Adams  had  originally  been  a  republican. 
The  glare  of  royalty  and  nobility,  during  his  mission  to 
England,  had  made  him  believe  their  fascination  a  neces 
sary  ingredient  in  government.  His  book  on  the  Ameri 
can  constitution  having  made  known  his  political  bias, 
he  was  taken  up  by  the  monarchical  federalists  in  his 
absence,  and,  on  his  return  to  the  United  States,  he  was 
by  them  made  to  believe  that  the  general  disposition  of 
our  citizens  was  favorable  to  monarchy,  and  his  election 
to  the  presidency  confirmed  him  in  his  errors.  Innu 
merable  addresses,  too  artfully  and  industriously  poured 
in  upon  him,  deceived  him  into  a  confidence  that  he  was 
on  the  pinnacle  of  popularity,  when  the  gulf  was  yawn 
ing  at  his  feet,  which  was  to  swallow  up  him  and  his 
deceivers.  For  when  Gen.  Washington  was  withdrawn, 
these  energumeni  of  royalism,  kept  in  check  hitherto  by 
the  dread  of  his  honesty,  his  firmness,  his  patriotism,  and 
the  authority  of  his  name,  now  mounted  on  the  car  of 
state,  and  free  from  control,  drove  headlong  and  wild, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  left,  or  regarding  any 
thing  but  the  objects  they  were  driving  at,  until  display 
ing  these  fully,  the  eyes  of  the  nation  were  opened,  and 
a  general  disbandment  of  them  from  the  public  councils 
took  place." 

Mr.  Jefferson  partook  so  largely  of  the  dissatisfaction 
which  the  British  treaty  generally  inspired,  and  of  the 
popular  suspicions  as  to  the  motives  of  those  who  favored 
it,  that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Mazzei,  an  Italian  gen 
tleman  who  had  lived  some  time  in  his  neighborhood, 
and  with  whom  he  had  been  particularly  intimate.  He 
represents  to  him  the  falling  off  that  had  taken  place  in 
the  attachment  of  some  of  the  leading  politicians  to 
liberty  and  republicanism,  which  he  attributes  to  the 
corrupting  influence  of  Great  Britain,  the  funding  sys- 


116  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tern,  and  the  bank.  The  political  portion  of  this  letter 
was  translated  into  Italian,  and  published  in  Florence  by 
Mr.  Mazzei,  was  then  translated  into  French,  and  pub 
lished  at  Paris  in  the  Moniteur,  and  having  been  trans 
lated  into  English,  and  republished  in  this  country  in  the 
following  ye#r,  it  became  the  subject  of  severe  animad 
version  against  Mr.  Jefferson  by  the  federal  party.  The 
offensive  passage  in  the  original  letter  was  in  these  words  : 
"  The  aspect  of  our  politics  has  wonderfully  changed 
since  you  left  us,  April  24,  1794.  In  place  of  that  noble 
love  of  liberty  and  republican  government  which  carried 
us  triumphantly  through  the  war,  an  Anglican,  monar 
chical,  and  aristocratical  party  has  sprung  up,  whose 
avowed  object  is  to  draw  over  us  the  substance,  as  they 
have  already  done  the  forms,  of  the  British  government. 
The  main  body  of  our  citizens,  however,  remain  true  to 
their  republican  principles  :  the  whole  landed  interest  is 
republican,  and  so  is  a  great  mass  of  talents.  Against 
us  are  the  executive,  the  judiciary,  two  out  of  three 
branches  of  the  legislature,  all  the  officers  of  the  govern 
ment,  all  who  want  to  be  officers,  all  timid  men  who 
prefer  the  calm  of  despotism  to  the  boisterous  sea  of 
liberty ;  British  merchants,  and  Americans  trading  on 
British  capital ;  speculators,  and  holders  in  the  banks 
and  public  funds,  a  contrivance  invented  for  the  purposes 
of  corruption,  and  for  assimilating  us  in  all  things  to  the 
rotten  as  well  as  the  sound  parts  of  the  British  model. 
It  would  give  you  a  fever  were  I  to  name  to  you  the 
apostates  who  have  gone  over  to  these  heresies — men 
who  were  Samsons  in  the  field  and  Solomons  in  the 
council,  but  who  have  had  their  heads  shorn  by  the  har 
lot  England.  In  short,  we  are  likely  to  preserve  the 
liberty  we  have  obtained  only  by  unremitting  labors  and 
perils.  But  we  shall  preserve  it ;  and  our  mass  of  weight 


LIFE    OF   JEFFERSON.  117 

and  wealth  on  the  good  side  is  so  great,  as  to  leave  no 
danger  that  force  will  be  attempted  against  us.  We  have 
only  to  wake  and  snap  the  Lilliputian  cords  with  which 
they  have  been  entangling  us  during  the  first  sleep  which 
succeeded  our  labors." 

The  enemies  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  a  view  of  profiting 
by  the  strong  hold  which  General  Washington  always  had 
on  the  affections  of  the  people,  insisted  that  these,  his 
accusations  of  a  desire  in  some  to  introduce  a  monarchi 
cal  government,  and  of  apostasy  from  their  former  prin 
ciples,  meant  to  apply  to  that  eminent  man,  and  that,  con 
sidering  the  relations  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson  professed  to 
stand  towards  him,  the  calumny  was  as  base  as  it  was  un 
founded.  , 

This  letter  to  Mazzei,  he  says,  has  been  a  precious 
theme  of  crimination  for  federal  malice.  It  was  a  long 
letter  on  business,  in  which  was  inserted  a  single  para 
graph  only  of  political  information.  In  this  information 
there  was  not  one  word  which  would  not  then  have  been, 
or  would  not  now  be  approved  by  every  republican  in  the 
United  States,  looking  back  to  those  times,  as  you  will 
see  by  a  faithful  copy,  now  enclosed,  of  the  whole  of 
what  that  letter  said  on  the  subject  of  the  United  States, 
or  of  its  government.  He  denies  that  he  meant  his  re 
marks  against  an  Anglican,  monarchical  and  aristocratic 
party  to  apply  to  General  Washington ;  insists  that  they 
do  not  necessarily  apply  to  him,  and  that  General  Wash 
ington  was  well  aware  that  these  censures  were  not  in 
tended  for  him.  He  thus  concludes  his  vindication  : — 
"  The  truth  is,  that  the  federalists,  pretending  to  be  the 
exclusive  friends  of  General  Washington,  have  ever  done 
what  they  could  to  sink  his  character,  by  hanging  theirs 
on  it,  and  by  representing  as  the  enemy  of  republicans 
him  who  of  all  men  is  best  entitled  to  the  appellation  of 


118  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  father  of  that  republic  which  they  were  endeavoring 
to  subvert,  and  the  republicans  to  maintain.  They  can 
not  deny,  because  the  elections  proclaimed  the  truth,  that 
the  great  body  of  the  nation  approved  the  republican 
measures.  General  Washington  was  himself  sincerely  a 
friend  to  the  republican  principles  of  our  constitution. 
His  faith,  perhaps,  in  its  duration,  might  not  have  been 
as  confident  as  mine ;  but  he  repeatedly  declared  to  me, 
that  he  was  determined  it  should  have  a  fair  chance  of 
success,  and  that  he  would  lose  the  last  drop  of  his  blood 
in  its  support,  against  any  attempt  that  might  be  made  to 
change  its  republican  form." 

As  this  letter  to  Mazzei  has  drawn  so  much  obloquy 
on  Mr.  Jefferson,  we  may  be  excused  for  giving  a  closer 
examination  to  the  charges,  and  to  his  defence.  The 
ground  of  crimination  is,  that  he  imputed  to  General 
Washington  an  undue  attachment,  to  England,  and  a  se 
cret  preference  for  monarchical  over  republican  govern 
ment;  that  he  was  plainly  designated  in  that  passage  of 
the  letter  which  says,  "  Against  us  are  the  executive  and 
two  out  of  three  branches  of  the  legislature,"  and  was 
meant  to  be  comprehended  among  "  the  apostates,  who, 
though  Samsons  in  the  field  and  Solomons  in  the  council, 
have  had  their  heads  shorn  by  the  harlot  England."  To 
this  charge  Mr.  Jefferson  gives  an  express  denial,  and, 
while  he  has  never  detracted  one  word  as  to  the  leading 
men  of  the  federal  party,  he  has  uniformly  maintained 
that  he  did  not  mean  to  class  General  Washington  with 
them,  either  as  to  their  principles  or  purposes. 

Now  upon  this  subject  we  have  abundant  evidence  to 
satisfy  a  candid  inquirer.  Not  only  in  his  diary  does  he 
repeatedly  express  his  conviction  that  Gen.  Washington 
was  a  republican  in  his  attachments,  though  he  had  not 
the  same  entire  confidence  in  the  fitness  of  the  people  for 


LIFE    OF    JEFFERSON.  119 

self-government,  as  Mr.  Jefferson;  but  also  in  several  of 
his  letters  to  individuals  of  the  same  party  as  himself; 
and  in  his  long  letter  he  wrote  to  Gen.  Washington  to 
dissuade  him  from  retiring  at  the  end  of  the  first  term, 
he  not  only  would  not  have  urged  him  to  continue  if  he 
had  have  believed  that  his  principles  were  opposed  to 
those  which  he  showed,  through  life,  such  a  rooted  at 
tachment,  but  he  never  would  have  ventured  to  censure 
so  roundly,  as  he  did  in  that  letter,  the  principles  which 
he  believed  were  those  of  Gen.  Washington.  This  letter 
then,  is,  of  itself,  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that 
he  intended  to  comprehend  in  his  letter  to  Mazzei,  him 
whom  he  had  at  all  other  times  excepted.  They  were 
plainly  meant  for  Hamilton,  Adams,  Jay,  the  Pinckney's, 
arid  some  others  who  had  been  distinguished  in  the  Revo 
lution  as  soldiers  or  statesmen,  and  who  then  guided  the 
executive  councils,  but  who,  by  their  Anglican  attach 
ments  and  anti-gallican  prejudices,  were  endeavoring,  as 
much  as  they  could,  to  assimilate  our  government  to  that 
of  Great  Britain.  This  opinion,  whether  well  founded 
or  not,  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  common  with  a  large  proportion 
of  his  party,  fully  entertained.  There  is  abundant  evi 
dence  to  show  that,  as  to  some  of  the  federal  party,  they 
were  not  mistaken  ;  and  if,  in  the  course  of  time,  the 
American  government  were  to  disappoint  the  hopes  of  its 
friends  and  admirers,  and  prove  a  failure,  many  of  that 
party  would  have  claims  to  the  character  of  foresight, 
which  their  enemies  could  not  resist,  and  which  some  of 
their  admirers  already  assert  for  them  by  anticipation. 

The  opinion  universally  entertained  of  the  extraordi 
nary  abilities  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  the  signal  evidence 
given  by  his  country  of  a  profound  sense  of  his  patriotic 
services,  and  of  veneration  for  his  memory,  have  induced 
the  editor  to  make  some  extracts  from  his  letters. 


120  THE  TRUE  AMERICAN. 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  COL.  ARTHUR  CAMPBELL, 

"  Monticello,  Sept.  1,  1797. 

"  It  is  true  that  a  party  has  risen  up  among  us,  or  rather 
has  come  among  us,  which  is  endeavoring  to  separate  us 
from  all  friendly  connection  with  France,  to  unite  our 
destinies  with  those  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  assimilate 
our  government  to  theirs.  Our  lenity  in  permitting  the 
return  of  the  old  tories,  gave  the  first  body  to  this  party : 
they  have  been  increased  by  large  importations  of  British 
merchants  and  factors,  by  American  merchants  dealing  on 
British  capital,  and  by  stock-dealers  and  banking  compa 
nies,  who,  by  the  aid  of  a  paper  system,  are  enriching 
themselves  to  the  ruin  of  our  country,  and  swaying  the 
government  by  their  possession  of  the  printing  presses, 
which  their  wealth  commands,  and  by  other  means,  not 
always  honorable  to  the  character  of  our  countrymen. 
Hitherto,  their  influence  and  their  system  have  been  irre 
sistible,  and  they  have  raised  up  an  executive  power  which 
is  too  strong  for  the  legislature.  But  I  natter  myself  they 
have  passed  their  zenith.  The  people,  while  these  things 
were  doing,  were  lulled  into  rest  and  security  from  a  cause 
which  no  longer  exists.  No  prepossessions  now  will  shut 
their  ears  to  truth.  They  begin  to  see  to  what  port  their 
leaders  were  steering  during  their  slumbers,  and  there  is 
yet  time  to  haul  in.  All  can  be  done  peaceably,  by  the 
people  confining  their  choice  of  representatives  and  sena 
tors  to  persons  attached  to  republican  government  and  the 
principles  of  1776,  not  office-hunters,  but  farmers,  whose 
interests  are  entirely  agricultural.  Such  men  are  the  true 
representatives  of  the  great  American  interest,  and  are 
alone  to  be  relied  on  for  expressing  the  proper  American 
sentiment.  We  owe  gratitude  to  France,  justice  to  Eng 
land,  good  will  to  all,  and  subservience  to  none.  All  this 


LIFE   OF  JEFFERSON.  121 

must  be  brought  about  by  the  people,  using  their  elective 
rights  with  prudence  and  self-possession,  and  not  suffer 
ing  themselves  to  be  duped  by  treacherous  emissaries.  It 
was  by  the  sober  sense  of  our  citizens  that  we  were  safely 
and  steadily  conducted  from  monarchy  to  republicanism, 
and  it  is  by  the  same  agency  alone  we  can  be  kept  from 
falling  back." 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  ELBRIDGE  GERRY. 

"  Philadelphia,  January  26, 1799. 
11  Our  very  long  intimacy  as  fellow-laborers  in  the 
same  cause,  the  recent  expressions  of  mutual  confidence 
which  has  preceded  your  mission,  the  interesting  course 
which  that  had  taken,  made  me  anxious  to  hear  from  you 
on  your  return.  I  was  the  more  so  too,  as  I  had  myself, 
during  the  whole  of  your  absence,  as  well  as  since  your 
return,  been  a  constant  butt  for  every  shaft  of  calumny 
which  malice  and  falsehood  could  form,  and  the  presses, 
public  speakers,  or  private  letters  disseminate.  I  do  with 
sincere  zeal  wish  an  inviolable  preservation  of  our  pre 
sent  federal  constitution,  according  to  the  true  sense  in 
which  it  was  adopted  by  the  states,  that  in  which  it  was 
advocated  by  its  friends,  and  not  that  which  its  enemies 
apprehended,  who,  therefore,  became  its  enemies  :  and  I 
am  opposed  to  the  monarchizing  its  features  by  the  forms 
of  its  administration,  with  a  view  to  conciliate  a  first 
transition  to  a  President  and  Senate  for  life,  and  from 
that  to  an  hereditary  tenure  of  these  offices,  and  thus  to 
worm  out  the  elective  principle.  I  am  for  preserving  to 
the  states  the  powers  not  yielded  by  them  to  the  Union, 
and  to  the  legislature  of  the  Union  its  constitutional  share 
in  the  division  of  powers.  I  am  for  a  government  rigor 
ously  frugal  and  simple,  and  not  for  a  multiplication  of 

VOL.    II.  11 


122  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

officers  and  salaries  merely  to  make  partisans,  and  for 
increasing  by  every  device  the  public  debt,  on  the  princi 
ple  of  its  being  a  public  blessing.  I  am  for  relying,  for 
internal  defence,  on  our  militia  solely,  till  actual  invasion, 
and  not  for  a  standing  army  in  time  of  peace,  which  may 
overawe  the  public  sentiment.  I  am  for  free  commerce 
with  all  nations ;  political  connection  with  none.  I  am 
not  for  linking  ourselves  with  the  quarrels  of  Europe,  or 
joining  in  the  confederacy  of  kings  to  war  against  the 
principles  of  liberty.  I  am  for  freedom  of  religion,  and 
against  all  manoeuvres  to  bring  about  a  legal  ascendency 
of  one  sect  over  another ;  for  freedom  of  the  press,  and 
against  all  violations  of  the  constitution  to  silence  by 
force,  and  not  by  reason,  the  complaints  or  criticisms, 
just  or  unjust,  of  citizens  against  the  conduct  of  their 
agents.  And  I  am  for  encouraging  the  progress  of  sci 
ence  in  all  its  branches.  The  first  object  of  my  heart  is 
my  own  country ;  in  that  is  embarked  my  family,  my 
fortune,  and  my  own  existence.  I  have  not  one  farthing 
of  interest,  nor  one  fibre  of  attachment  out  of  it,  nor  a 
single  motive  of  preference  of  any  one  nation  to  another, 
but  in  proportion  as  they  are  more  or  less  friendly  to  us." 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  SAMUEL  ADAMS. 

11  Philadelphia,  Feb.  26,  1800. 

"  A  letter  from  you,  my  respectable  friend,  after  three 
and  twenty  years  of  separation,  has  given  me  a  pleasure 
I  cannot  express.  It  recalls  to  my  mind  the  anxious  days 
we  then  passed  in  struggling  for  the  cause  of  mankind. 
Your  principles  have  been  tested  in  the  crucible  of  time, 
and  have  come  out  pure.  You  have  proved  that  it  was 
monarchy,  and  not  merely  British  monarchy,  you  opposed. 
A  government  by  representatives,  elected  by  the  people 


LIFE    OF   JEFFERSON.  123 

at  short  periods,  was  our  object  and  our  maxim  at  that 
day.     When  annual  election  ends,  tyranny  begins." 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  HIS  NEPHEW,  PETER  CARR. 

"  Paris,  August  19,  1785. 

"  Give  up  money,  give  up  fame,  give  up  science,  give 
the  earth  itself  and  all  it  contains,  rather  than  do  an  im 
moral  act.  And  never  suppose  that,  in  any  possible  situ 
ation,  or  under  any  circumstances,  it  is  best  for  you  to 
do  a  dishonorable  thing,  however  slightly  so  it  may  ap 
pear  to  you.  Whenever  you  are  to  do  such  a  thing, 
though  it  can  never  be  known  but  to  yourself,  ask  your 
self  how  you  would  act  were  all  the  world  looking  at  you, 
and  act  accordingly.  Encourage  all  your  virtuous  dis 
positions,  and  exercise  them  whenever  an  opportunity 
arises ;  being  assured  that  they  will  gain  strength  by  exer 
cise,  as  a  limb  of  the  body  does,  and  that  exercise  will 
make  them  habitual. 

"  From  the  practice  of  the  purest  virtue,  you  may  be 
assured,  you  will  derive  the  most  sublime  comforts  in 
every  moment  of  life,  and  in  the  moment  of  death.  If 
ever  you  find  yourself  environed  with  difficulties  and  per 
plexing  circumstances,  out  of  which  you  are  at  a  loss 
how  to  extricate  yourself,  do  what  is  right,  and  be  assu 
red  that  will  extricate  you  the  best  out  of  the  worst  situ 
ations.  Though  you  cannot  see,  when  you  take  one 
step,  what  will  be  the  next,  yet  follow  truth,  justice,  and 
plain  dealing,  and  never  fear  their  leading  you  out  of  the 
labyrinth,  in  the  easiest  manner  possible. 

"  The  knot,  which  you  thought  a  Gordian  one,  will  untie 
itself  before  you.  Nothing  is  so  mistaken  as  the  suppo 
sition  that  a  person  is  to  extricate  himself  from  a  difficul 
ty  by  intrigue,  by  chicanery,  by  dissimulation,  by  trim- 


124  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

ming,  by  an  untruth,  by  an  injustice.  This  increases  the 
difficulties  ten  fold  ;  and  those  who  pursue  these  methods 
get  themselves  so  involved,  at  length,  that  they  can  turn 
no  way  but  their  infamy  becomes  more  exposed.  It  is  of 
great  importance  to  set  a  resolution,  not  to  be  shaken, 
never  to  tell  an  untruth.  There  is  no  vice  so  mean,  so 
pitiful,  so  contemptible ;  and  he  who  permits  himself  to 
tell  a  lie  once,  finds  it  much  easier  to  do  it  a  second  and 
third  time,  till  at  length  it  becomes  habitual ;  he  tells  lies 
without  attending  to  it,  and  truths  without  the  world's 
believing  him.  This  falsehood  of  the  tongue  leads  to 
that  of  the  heart,  and  in  time  depraves  all  its  good  dispo 
sitions. 

"  An  honest  heart  being  the  first  blessing,  a  knowing 
head  is  the  second." 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  TO  DR.  BENJAMIN  RUSH. 

"Washington,  April  21,  1803. 

"  In  some  of  the  delightful  conversations  with  you,  in 
the  evenings  of  1798 — 99,  and  which  served  as  an  ano 
dyne  to  the  afflictions  of  the  crisis  through  which  our 
country  was  then  laboring,  the  Christian  religion  was 
sometimes  our  topic  ;  -  and  I  then  promised  you  that,  one 
day  or  other,  I  would  give  you  my  views  of  it.  They  are 
the  result  of  a  life  of  inquiry  and  reflection,  and  very 
different  from  that  anti-christian  system  imputed  to  me 
by  those  who  know  nothing  of  my  opinions. 

"  To  the  corruptions  of  Christianity  I  am  indeed  op 
posed,  but  not  to  the  genuine  precepts  of  Jesus  himself; 
I  am  a  Christian  in  the  only  sense  in  which  he  wished 
any  one  to  be ;  sincerely  attached  to  his  doctrines  in  pre 
ference  to  all  others." 


LIFE    OP   JEFFERSON.  125 

It  would  not  be  consistent  either  with  the  character 
or  length  of  this  sketch  to  enter  into  the  details  of  the 
valuable  services  rendered  for  his  country  by  this  great 
man  at  home  and  abroad.  They  are  written  in  the  pages 
of  history,  and  inscribed  on  the  hearts  of  his  country 
men.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  first  secretary  of  state  under 
General  Washington.  Of  all  the  officers  under  the  go 
vernment  of  the  United  States,  there  is  no  one  which 
calls  for  the  exercise  of  such  various  abilities,  such  ex 
tensive  knowledge  of  laws  and  facts,  such  prompt  deci 
sion  on  questions  involving  principles  of  the  highest 
political  import,  as  the  department  of  state ;  and  in  pro 
portion  to  the  infancy  of  the  office  itself,  and  the  new 
and  peculiar  situation  of  the  government,  was  the  diffi 
culty  of  the  task  assumed  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  But  all 
unite  in  the  candid  acknowledgment,  that  the  duties  of 
this  station  were  performed  with  a  prudence,  intelligence, 
and  zeal,  honorable  to  himself,  and  useful  to  his  country. 
In  the  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  the  laws  of  a 
strict  neutrality,  at  a  period  of  peculiar  difficulty,  were 
maintained  with  unyielding  firmness  and  consummate 
ability  ;  the  dignity  of  the  nation  was  remembered  and 
supported  ;  and  the  interests  of  the  citizens  were  cherished 
and  protected.  At  home  he  turned  his  attention  to  ob 
jects  of  a  minuter  character,  but  of  equal  importance;  he 
laid  before  Congress,  from  time  to  time,  reports  on  vari 
ous  branches  of  domestic  policy,  which  displayed  at  once 
the  extent  and  variety  of  his  genius,  the  depth  of  his 
information,  and  the  zeal  with  which  he  applied  them 
both  to  the  peculiar  duties  of  his  situation.  It  has  been 
observed,  that  those  papers  evince  not  only  the  feelings 
of  a  patriot,  and  the  judgment  of  an  accomplished  states-, 
man,  but  display,  at  the  same  time,  uncommon  talents 
and  knowledge  as  a  mathematician  and  natural 

VOL.  II.  11* 


126  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

pher,  the  deepest  research  as  an  historian,  and  even  an 
enlarged  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  business 
and  concerns  of  a  merchant. 

During  the  session  of  1791,  the  secretary  of  the  trea 
sury,  in  introducing  his  celebrated  system  of  finance, 
had  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank. 
A  bill  conforming  to  the  plan  he  suggested  was  sent 
down  from  the  senate,  and  was  permitted  to  proceed  un 
molested  in  the  house  of  representatives  to  the  third 
reading.  On  the  final  question,  however,  a  great  oppo 
sition  was  made  to  its  passage.  After  a  debate  of  eight 
days,  which  was  supported  on  both  sides  with  ability,  and 
with  that  ardor  which  was  naturally  excited  by  the  im 
portance  attached  by  each  party  to  the  principle  in  con 
test,  the  question  was  put,  and  the  bill  carried  in  the 
affirmative  by  a  majority  of  nineteen  voices. 

The  opinion  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  it  agreed  with  that 
of  the  attorney-general,  was  decided.  He  believed  that 
Congress,  in  the  passage  of  the  bill,  had  clearly  tran 
scended  the  powers  granted  them  by  the  constitution ; 
that  as  a  body,  with  limited  authority,  they  were  strictly 
confined  to  the  exercise  of  those  powers  which  were 
granted  to  them,  and  that  to  their  exercise,  an  establish 
ment  of  such  vast  power  and  influence  was  neither  in 
cidental  nor  necessary. 

On  the  thirty-first  of  December,  1793,  Mr.  Jefferson 
resigned  the  office  of  secretary  of  state,  and  retired  once 
more  to  private  life.  From  this  period  Mr.  Jefferson 
devoted  himself  to  the  education  of  his  family,  the  culti 
vation  of  his  estate,  and  the  pursuit  of  his  philosophical 
studies,  which  he  had  so  long  abandoned,  but  to  which 
he  now  returned  with  new  ardor.  The  situation  of  the 
country  did  not,  however,  permit  Mr.  Jefferson  long  to 
enjoy  the  pleasures  of  a  private  life.  General  Washing- 


LIFE    OP   JEFFERSON.  127 

ton  had  for  some  time  contemplated  a  retirement  from 
office,  and  in  his  farewell  address  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  he  had,  in  the  month  of  September,  1796, 
declined  being  considered  any  longer  a  candidate  for  it. 
The  person  in  whom  alone  the  voice  of  the  whole  nation 
could  be  united  having  thus  withdrawn,  the  great  parties 
respectively  brought  forward  their  chiefs.  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  supported  by  the  one,  Mr.  Adams  by  the  other.  In 
February,  1797,  the  votes  for  the  first  and  second  magis 
trates  of  the  Union  were  opened  and  counted  in  presence 
of  both  houses;  and  the  highest  number  appearing  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  the  second  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  the  first  was  declared  to  be  the  President,  and 
the  second  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  for 
four  years,  to  commence  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  ensuing 
March.  On  that  day  Mr.  Jefferson  also  took  the  chair 
as  president  of  the  senate,  and  delivered  to  that  body  a 
short  address,  in  which  he  expressed  his  firm  attachment 
to  the  laws  and  constitution  of  his  country,  and  an  anx 
ious  wish  to  fulfil,  with  correctness  and  satisfaction,  the 
duties  of  the  office  to  which  he  had  been  called. 

As,  however,  the  time  approached  for  a  new  election 
of  a  President,  the  republican  party  again  selected  Mr. 
Jefferson  as  their  candidate  for  the  office,  and  with  more 
success  than  on  the  preceding  occasion.  In  the  heat 
and  violence  of  party,  much  may  be  excused,  which 
calls  down  our  severest  animadversions  in  times  of  less 
excitement.  Week  after  week  was  the  nation  kept  in 
suspense,  while  a  contest  was  fiercely  maintained,  by 
which  it  was  attempted  by  the  federal  party  to  raise  to 
the  highest  office  of  the  nation  a  man  who  had  not  re 
ceived  a  solitary  vote  from  the  people,  in  opposition  to 
one,  who  for  thirty  years  had  been  a  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  their  councils,  who  had  held  the  highest  offices 


128  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  the  government,  who  was  fitted  for  the  station  alike 
by  his  experience,  his  services  and  his  virtues,  and  who, 
above  all,  was  notoriously  the  choice  of  a  majority  of  the 
nation.  At  length,  after  thirty-six  ballotings,  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  was  elected  President.  Colonel  Burr  became,  of 
course,  Vice-President. 

In  December,  1801,  Mr.  Jefferson  sent  his  first  mes 
sage  to  both  houses  of  Congress.  It  had  been  the  cus 
tom  thus  far,  since  the  foundation  of  the  government,  for 
the  President  to  deliver  in  person  this  communication  to 
Congress,  and  for  that  body  to  reply  at  once  in  a  formal 
address.  In  the  change  now  made  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  he 
appears  to  have  had  in  view  at  once  the  convenience  of 
the  legislature,  the  economy  of  their  time,  their  relief 
from  the  embarrassment  of  immediate  answers  on  subjects 
not  yet  fully  before  them,  and  the  benefits  thence  result 
ing  to  the  public  affairs.  In  these  respects  its  advantages 
have  been  so  apparent,  that  it  has  been  invariably  adopted 
on  every  subsequent  occasion. 

So  much  were  the  measures  adopted  by  Mr.  Jefferson  dur 
ing  the  four  years  for  which  he  had  been  chosen,  approved 
by  his  country,  that,  as  the  period  approached  for  a  new 
election,  his  popularity  increased  more  and  more,  and  he 
was  elevated  to  the  presidency  a  second  time  by  a  ma 
jority  which  had  risen  from  eight  votes  to  one  hundred 
and  forty-eight.  During  the  course,  indeed,  of  his  ad 
ministration,  the  press  in  its  full  licentiousness  had  been 
directed  against  him.  He  entered  a  second  time  on  the 
duties  of  his  lofty  station,  deeply  feeling  the  proof  of 
confidence  which  his  fellow-citizens  had  given  him.  He 
asserted  his  determination  to  act  up  to  those  principles 
on  which  he  believed  it  his  duty  to  administer  the  affairs 
of  the  government,  and  which  had  been  already  sanc 
tioned  by  the  unequivocal  approbation  of  his  country. 


LIFE    OF   JEFFERSON.  129 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  so  far  destined,  ere  his  retirement,  to 
behold  the  success  of  his  plans,  that  in  January,  1809, 
after  the  embargo  had  existed  a  year,  overtures  were 
made  by  Mr.  Canning  to  Mr.  Pinkney,  which  indicated  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  British  government  to  re 
cede  from  the  ground  they  had  taken.  These  overtures 
were  succeeded  by  negotiations,  which  at  last  terminated 
in  the  repeal  of  some  of  the  most  objectionable  features 
of  the  orders  in  council.  On  this  event  Mr.  Pinkney 
remarks,  "  Our  triumph  is  already  considered  a  signal 
one  by  every  body." 

The  period  had  now  arrived  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  to 
terminate  forever  his  political  career :  he  had  reached  the 
age  of  sixty-five  years  :  he  had  been  engaged  almost  with 
out  interruption  for  forty  years  in  the  most  arduous  duties 
of  public  life,  and  had  passed  through  the  various  stations 
to  which  his  country  had  called  him,  with  unsullied  honor 
and  distinguished  reputation :  he  now,  therefore,  deter 
mined  to  leave  the  scene  of  his  glory  while  its  brightness 
was  unobscured  by  the  unavoidable  infirmities  of  age.  Al 
though  the  virtues  and  the  fame  of  Mr.  Jefferson  shed  a 
bright  lustre  around  the  evening  of  his  days,  there  was  yet 
one  incident  to  obscure  it,  which,  however  painful,  it 
would  scarcely  be  proper  to  pass  over  without  notice.  In 
every  age  and  in  every  country,  it  has  been  too  often  the 
lot  of  those  who  have  devoted,  with  thoughtless  generosi 
ty,  to  the  service  of  their  fellow-creatures  the  zeal  of  youth 
and  the  experience  of  maturer  years,  to  find  themselves  at 
last,  in  their  old  age,  doomed  to  poverty  which  they  have 
no  longer  the  ability  to  repel.  An  honorable  poverty,  in 
curred  in  the  performance  of  public  duties  or  private  gene 
rosity,  unsullied  by  extravagance  and  unattended  by  crime, 
will  redound  to  the  honor,  never  to  the  disgrace,  of  him 
who  has  the  misfortune  to  endure  it.  With  Mr.  Jefferson 


130  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  it  could  have  been  avoided. 
For  more  than  forty  years  he  had  been  actively  engaged  in 
public  duties,  generally  at  a  distance  from  his  own  estate. 
In  retiring  from  the  exalted  station  he  had  enjoyed,  he  did 
not  enter  on  a  less  conspicuous  scene :  he  had  become 
identified,  as  it  were,  with  the  greatness  and  glory  of  his 
country.  He  was  the  object  of  attraction  to  crowds  of 
anxious  and  admiring  guests,  and  unless  by  coldly  closing 
his  doors,  it  was  impossible  to  limit  the  expenses  he  was 
thus  obliged  to  incur.  The  full  vigor  of  his  mind  re 
mained  unimpaired,  at  least  until  a  very  short  period  be 
fore  he  fell  into  the  grave. 

The  year  1826,  being  the  fiftieth  since  the  establish 
ment  of  our  independence,  it  was  determined  universally 
throughout  the  United  States  to  celebrate  it  as  a  jubilee 
with  unusual  rejoicing  ;  preparations  to  this  end  were 
made  in  every  part  of  the  country,  and  all  means  were  ta 
ken  to  impart  to  the  celebration  the  dignity  which  was 
worthy  of  the  country  and  the  event.  The  citizens  of 
Washington,  the  metropolis  of  the  nation,  invited  Mr. 
Jefferson,  as  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence,  to  unite  with  them  in  their  festivities  :  this 
request  he  was  obliged  to  decline ;  but  the  letter  in  which 
he  signified  his  regret  is  left  to  us  as  a  monument  of  his 
expiring  greatness.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  June,  when 
the  hand  of  death  was  already  upon  him,  he  expressed  in 
*his  letter  all  those  characteristic  sentiments  which  through 
life  had  so  strongly  marked  him — the  delight  with  which 
he  looked  back  to  the  period  when  his  country  had  made 
its  glorious  election  between  submission  and  the  sword — 
the  joy  he  felt  in  its  consequent  prosperity — the  hope  he 
indulged  that  the  time  would  yet  come  when  civil  and  re 
ligious  freedom  should  bless  all  the  world — the  ardent 
wish  he  .entertained  that  the  return  of  this  day  should 


LIFE    OF    JEFFERSON.  131 

keep  fresh  in  us  the  recollection  of  our  rights,  and  in 
crease  our  devotion  to  them.  He  thus  addresses  the 
mayor  of  Washington  : — 

"  RESPECTED    SIR  :  The  kind   invitation    I  received 
from  you,  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  of  the  city  of  Wash 
ington,  to  be  present  with  them   at  their  celebration  of 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  American  independence  as  one 
of  the  surviving  signers  of  an   instrument  pregnant  with 
our  own  and  the  fate  of  the  world,  is  most  flattering  to  my 
self,  and  heightened  by  the  honorable  accompaniment  pro 
posed  for  the  comfort  of  such  a  journey.     It  adds  sensi 
bly  to  the  sufferings  of  sickness  to  be  deprived  by  it  of  a 
personal  participation  in  the   rejoicings  of  that  day ;  but 
acquiescence  under  circumstances  is   a  duty  not  placed 
among  those  we  are  permitted  to  control.     I  should,  in 
deed,  with  peculiar  delight,  have  met  and  exchanged  these 
congratulations  personally,  with  the  small  band,  the  rem 
nant  of  the  host  of  worthies  who  joined  with  us  on  that 
day,  in  the  bold  and  doubtful  election  we  were  to  make 
for  our  country  between  submission  and  the  sword  ;  and 
to  have  enjoyed  with  them  the  consolatory   fact  that  our 
fellow-citizens,   after  half  a  century  of  experience  and 
prosperity,   continue  to    approve  the   choice  we   made. 
May  it  be  to  the  world,  what  I  believe  it  will  be  to  some 
parts  sooner,  to  others  later,  but  finally  to  all,   the  signal 
of  arousing  men  to  burst  the  chains  under  which  monk 
ish   ignorance   and  superstition   had  persuaded  them  to 
bind  themselves,  and  to  assume  the   blessings  and  securi 
ty  of  self-government.     The  form  which  we   have  substi 
tuted  restores  the  free  right  to  the  unbounded  exercise 
of  reason  and  freedom  of  opinion.     All  eyes  are  opened 
or  opening  to  the  rights  of  man.     The  general  spread  of 
the  lights  of  science  has  already  laid  open  to  every   view 
the  palpable  truth,  that  the  mass  of  mankind  has  not  been 


132  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

born  with  saddles  on  their  backs,  nor  a  favored  few  booted 
and  spurred,  ready  to  ride  them  legitimately,  by  the  grace 
of  God.  These  are  grounds  of  hope  for  others  ;  for  our 
selves,  let  the  annual  return  of  this  day  forever  refresh 
our  recollections  of  those  rights,  and  an  undiminished 
devotion  to  them. 

"  I  will  ask  permission  here  to  express  the  pleasure 
with  which  I  should  have  met  my  ancient  neighbors  of 
the  city  of  Washington  and  its  vicinities,  with  whom  I 
passed  so  many  years  of  a  pleasing  social  intercourse,  an 
intercourse  which  so  much  relieved  the  anxieties  of  the 
public  cares,  and  left  impressions  so  deeply  engraved  in 
my  affections  as  never  to  be  forgotten.  With  my  regret 
that  ill  health  forbids  me  the  gratification  of  an  accept 
ance,  be  pleased  to  receive  for  yourself,  and  those  for 
whom  you  write,  the  assurance  of  my  highest  respect 
and  friendly  attachment." 

Soon  after  this  letter  was  written,  the  indisposition  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  assumed  a  more  serious  character.  He 
had  already  lived  beyond  the  limits  ordinarily  assigned  to 
human  existence,  and  for  some  months  past,  the  whole 
tone  of  his  conversation  showed  that  he  was  looking 
forward  to  its  termination,  with  a  calmness  and  equanimi 
ty  worthy  of  his  past  life.  On  the  second  of  July,  the 
complaint,  with  which  he  was  afflicted,  left  him  ;  but  his 
physician  expressed  his  fears  that  his  strength  might  not 
prove  sufficient  to  restore  him  from  the  debility  to  which 
it  had  reduced  him.  Conscious  himself  that  he  could  not 
recover,  and  free  from  all  bodily  and  apparently  from  all 
mental  pain,  he  calmly  gave  directions  relative  to  his  coffin 
and  interment,  which  he  requested  might  be  at  Monticel- 
lo,  without  parade  or  pomp.  On  Monday,  the  following 
day,  he  inquired  of  those  around  him  with  much  solici 
tude,  what  was  the  day  of  the  month ;  they  told  him  it 


SECOND   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  133 

was  the  third  of  July ;  he  then  eagerly  expressed  his  de 
sire  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  live  yet  a  little  while, 
to  breathe  the  air  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary.  The  wish 
was  granted — the  Almighty  hand  sustained  him  up  to  the 
very  moment  when  his  wish  was  complete.  He  then  ex 
pired  at  ten  minutes  before  one  o'clock,  on  the  fourth  of 
July,  1826  ;  within  the  same  hour  at  which  he  affixed  his 
name  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  fifty  years  be 
fore,  leaving  an  undying  lustre  upon  his  name. 


SECOND  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER    15,  1802. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

When  we  assemble  together,  fellow-citizens,  to  con 
sider  the  state  of  our  beloved  country,  our  just  attentions 
are  first  drawn  to  those  pleasing  circumstances  which 
mark  the  goodness  of  that  Being  from  whose  favor  they 
flow,  and  the  large  measure  of  thankfulness  we  owe  for 
his  bounty.  Another  year  has  come  round,  and  finds  us 
still  blessed  with  peace  and  friendship  abroad ;  law,  or 
der,  and  religion  at  home;  good  affection  and  harmony 
with  our  Indian  neighbors ;  our  burdens  lightened,  yet 
our  income  sufficient  for  the  public  wants,  and  the  pro 
duce  of  the  year  great  beyond  example.  These,  fellow- 
citizens,  are  the  circumstances  under  which  we  meet;  and 
we  remark  with  special  satisfaction  those  which,  under 
the  smile  of  Providence,  result  from  the  skill,  industry, 
and  order  of  our  citizens,  managing  their  own  affairs  in 
their  own  way,  and  for  their  own  use,  unembarrassed  by 
too  much  regulations,  unoppressed  by  fiscal  exactions. 

On  the  restoration  of  peace  in  Europe,  that  portion  of 
the  general  carrying  trade  which  had  fallen  to  our  share 

VOL.  II.  12 


134  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

during  the  war,  was  abridged  by  the  returning  competi 
tion  of  the  belligerent  powers.  This  was  to  be  expected, 
and  was  just.  But,  in  addition,  we  find  in  some  parts  of 
Europe  monopolizing  discriminations,  which,  in  the  form 
of  duties,  tend  effectually  to  prohibit  the  carrying  thither 
our  own  produce  in  our  own  vessels.  From  existing 
amities,  and  a  spirit  of  justice,  it  is  hoped  that  friendly 
discussion  will  produce  a  fair  and  adequate  reciprocity. 
But  should  false  calculations  of  interest  defeat  our  hope, 
it  rests  with  the  legislature  to  decide  whether  they  will 
meet  inequalities  abroad  with  countervailing  inequalities 
at  home,  or  provide  for  the  evil  in  any  other  way. 

It  is  with  satisfaction  I  lay  before  you  an  act  of  the 
British  parliament,  anticipating  this  subject  so  far  as  to 
authorize  a  mutual  abolition  of  the  duties  and  counter 
vailing  duties,  permitted  under  the  treaty  of  1794.  It 
shows,  on  their  part,  a  spirit  of  justice  and  friendly  ac 
commodation,  which  it  is  our  duty  and  our  interest  to 
cultivate  with  all  nations.  Whether  this  would  produce 
a  due  equality  in  the  navigation  between  the  two  coun 
tries,  is  a  subject  for  your  consideration. 

Another  circumstance  which  claims  attention,  as  di 
rectly  affecting  the  very  source  of  our  navigation,  is  the 
defect  or  the  evasion  of  the  law  providing  for  the  return 
of  seamen,  and  particularly  of  those  belonging  to  vessels 
sold  abroad.  Numbers  of  them,  discharged  in  foreign 
ports,  have  been  thrown  on  the  hands  of  our  consuls, 
who,  to  rescue  them  from  the  dangers  into  which  their 
distresses  might  plunge  them,  and  save  them  to  their 
country,  have  found  it  necessary,  in  some  cases,  to  return 
them  at  the  public  charge. 

The  cession  of  the  Spanish  province  of  Louisiana  to 
France,  which  took  place  in  the  course  of  the  late  war, 
will,  if  carried  into  effect,  make  a  change  in  the  aspect 
of  our  foreign  relations,  which  will  doubtless  have  just 
weight  in  any  deliberations  of  the  legislature  connected 
with  that  subject. 

There  was  reason,  not  long  since,  to  apprehend  that 
the  warfare  in  which  we  were  engaged  with  Tripoli  might 
be  taken  up  by  some  others  of  the  Barbary  powers.  A 
reinforcement,  therefore,  was  immediately  ordered  to  the 


SECOND    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  135 

vessels  already  there.  Subsequent  information,  however, 
has  removed  these  apprehensions  for  the  present.  To 
secure  our  commerce  in  that  sea  with  the  smallest  force 
competent,  we  have  supposed  it  best  to  watch  strictly  the 
harbor  of  Tripoli.  Still,  however,  the  shallowness  of 
their  coast,  arid  the  want  of  smaller  vessels  on  our  part, 
has  permitted  some  cruisers  to  escape  unobserved ;  and 
to  one  of  these  an  American  vessel  unfortunately  fell  a 
prey.  The  captain,  one  American  seaman,  and  two 
others  of  color,  remain  prisoners  with  them,  unless  ex 
changed  under  an  agreement  formerly  made  with  the 
bashaw,  to  whom,  on  the  faith  of  that,  some  of  his  cap 
tive  subjects  had  been  restored. 

The  convention  with  the  state  of  Georgia  has  been 
ratified  by  their  legislature,  and  a  purchase  from  the 
Creeks  has  been  consequently  made,  of  a  part  of  the 
Talahasse  country.  In  this  purchase  has  been  also  com 
prehended  a  part  of  the  lands  within  the  fork  of  Oconee 
and  Oakmulgee  rivers.  The  particulars  of  the  contract 
will  be  laid  before  Congress  as  soon  as  they  shall  be  in 
a  state  for  communication. 

In  order  to  remove  every  ground  of  difference  possible 
with  our  Indian  neighbors,  I  have  proceeded  in  the  work 
of  settling  with  them,  and  marking  the  boundaries  be 
tween  us.  That  with  the  Choctaw  nation  is  fixed  in  one 
part,  and  will  be  through  the  whole  within  a  short  time. 
The  country  to  which  their  title  had  been  extinguished 
before  the  revolution  is  sufficient  to  receive  a  very  re 
spectable  population,  which  Congress  will  probably  see 
the  expediency  of  encouraging,  so  soon  as  the  limits 
shall  be  declared.  We  are  to  view  this  position  as  an 
outpost  of  the  United  States,  surrounded  by  strong  neigh 
bors,  and  distant  from  its  support.  And  how  far  that 
monopoly,  which  prevents  population,  should  be  guarded 
against,  and  actual  habitation  made  a  condition  of 
the  continuance  of  title,  will  be  for  your  consideration. 
A  prompt  settlement  too  of  all  existing  rights  and  claims 
within  this  territory,  presents  itself  as  a  preliminary  ope 
ration. 

In  that  part  of  the  Indiana  territory  which  includes 
Vincennes,  the  lines  settled  with  the  neighboring  tribes 


136  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

fix  the  extinction  of  their  title  at  a  breadth  of  twenty- 
four  leagues  from  east  to  west,  and  about  the  same 
length,  parallel  with  and  including  the  Wabash.  They 
have  also  ceded  a  tract  of  four  miles  square,  including 
the  Salt  Springs,  near  the  mouth  of  that  river. 

In  the  department  of  finance,  it  is  with  pleasure  I  in 
form  you  that  the  receipts  of  external  duties,  for  the  last 
twelve  months  have  exceeded  those  of  any  former  year, 
and  that  the  ratio  of  increase  has  been  also  greater  than 
usual.  This  has  enabled  us  to  answer  all  the  regular  ex 
igencies  of  government,  to  pay  from  the  treasury,  within 
one  year,  upwards  of  eight  millions  of  dollars  principal 
and  interest,  of  the  public  debt,  exclusive  of  upwards  of 
one  million  paid  by  the  sale  of  bank  stock,  and  making 
in  the  whole  a  reduction  of  nearly  five  millions  and  a 
half  of  principal,  and  to  have  now  in  the  treasury  four 
millions  and  a  half  of  dollars,  which  are  in  a  course  of 
application  to  the  further  discharge  of  debt  and  current 
demands.  Experience  too,  so  far,  authorizes  us  to  be 
lieve,  if  no  extraordinary  event  supervenes,  and  the  ex 
penses  which  will  be  actually  incurred  shall  not  be  greater 
than  were  contemplated  by  Congress  at  their  last  session, 
that  we  shall  not  be  disappointed  in  the  expectations  then 
formed.  But  nevertheless,  as  the  effect  of  peace  on  the 
amount  of  duties  is  not  yet  fully  ascertained,  it  is  the 
more  necessary  to  practise  every  useful  economy,  and  to 
incur  no  expense  which  may  be  avoided  without  preju 
dice. 

The  collection  of  internal  taxes  having  been  completed 
in  some  of  the  states,  the  officers  employed  in  it  are  of 
course  out  of  commission.  In  others  they  will  be  so 
shortly  ;  but  in  a  few,  where  the  arrangements  for  the 
direct  tax  had  been  retarded,  it  will  still  be  some  time 
before  the  system  is  closed.  It  has  not  yet  been  thought 
necessary  to  employ  the  agent  authorized  by  an  act  of 
the  last  session,  for  transacting  business  in  Europe  rela 
tive  to  debts  and  loans.  Nor  have  we  used  the  power, 
confided  by  the  same  act,  of  prolonging  the  foreign  debt 
by  re-loans,  and  of  redeeming,  instead  thereof,  an  equal 
sum  of  the  domestic  debt.  Should,  however,  the  diffi 
culties  of  remittance  on  so  large  a  scale  render  it  neces- 


SECOND    ANNUAL    ADDRESS.  137 

sary  at  any  time,  the  power  shall  be  executed,  and  the 
money  thus  unemployed  abroad  shall,  in  conformity  with 
that  law,  be  faithfully  applied  here  in  an  equivalent  ex 
tinction  of  domestic  debt.  When  effects  so  salutary 
result  from  the  plans  you  have  already  sanctioned,  when 
merely  by  avoiding  false  objects  of  expense,  we  are  able, 
without  a  direct  tax,  without  internal  taxes,  and  without 
borrowing,  to  make  large  and  effectual  payments  towards 
the  discharge  of  our  public  debt,  and  the  emancipation 
of  our  posterity  from  that  moral  canker,  it  is  an  encour 
agement,  fellow-citizens,  of  the  highest  order,  to  proceed 
as  we  have  begun  in  substituting  economy  for  taxation, 
and  in  pursuing  what  is  useful  for  a  nation  placed  as  we 
are,  rather  than  what  is  practised  by  others  under  differ 
ent  circumstances.  And  whensoever  we  are  destined  to 
meet  events  which  shall  call  forth  all  the  energies  of  our 
countrymen,  we  have  the  firmest  reliance  on  those  ener 
gies,  and  the  comfort  of  leaving  for  calls  like  these  the 
extraordinary  resources  of  loans  and  internal  taxes.  In 
the  mean  time,  by  payments  of  the  principal  of  our  debt, 
we  are  liberating,  annually,  portions  of  the  external 
taxes,  and  forming  from  them  a  growing  fund,  still  fur~ 
ther  to  lessen  the  necessity  of  recurring  to  extraordinary 
resources. 

The  usual  accounts  of  receipts  and  expenditures  for 
the  last  year,  with  an  estimate  of  the  expenses  of  the 
ensuing  one,  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury. 

No  change  being  deemed  necessary  in  our  military 
establishment,  an  estimate  of  its  expenses  for  the  ensu 
ing  year,  on  its  present  footing,  as  also  of  the  sums  to 
be  employed  in  fortifications  and  other  projects  within 
that  department,  has  been  prepared  by  the  secretary 
of  war,  and  will  make  a  part  of  the  general  estimates 
which  will  be  presented  to  you. 

Considering  that  our  regular  troops  are  employed  for 
local  purposes,  and  that  our  militia  is  our  general  re 
liance  for  great  and  sudden  emergencies,  you  will  doubt 
less  think  this  institution  worthy  of  a  review,  and  give 
it  those  improvements  of  which  you  find  it  susceptible. 

Estimates  for  the  naval  department,  prepared  by  the 

1  2^ 


138  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

secretary  of  the  navy,  for  another  year,  will,  in  like 
manner,  be  communicated  with  the  general  estimates. 
A  small  force  in  the  Mediterranean  will  still  be  neces 
sary  to  restrain  the  Tripoline  cruisers;  and  the  un 
certain  tenure  of  peace  with  some  other  of  the  Barbary 
powers  may  eventually  require  that  force  to  be  aug 
mented.  The  necessity  of  procuring  some  smaller  ves 
sels  for  that  service  will  raise  the  estimate;  but  the 
difference  in  their  maintenance  will  soon  make  it  a 
measure  of  economy. 

Presuming  it  will  be  deemed  expedient  to  expend  annu 
ally  a  convenient  sum  towards  providing  the  naval  defence 
which  our  station  may  require,  I  cannot  but  recommend 
that  the  first  appropriations  for  that  purpose  may  go  to 
the  saving  what  we  already  possess.  No  cares,  no  atten 
tions,  can  preserve  vessels  from  rapid  decay  which  Jie  in 
water,  and  exposed  to  the  sun.  These  decays  require 
great  and  constant  repairs,  and  will  consume,  if  contin 
ued,  a  great  portion  of  the  money  destined  to  naval  pur 
poses.  To  avoid  this  waste  of  our  resources,  it  is  pro 
posed  to  add  to  our  navy  yard  here  a  dock,  within  which 
our  present  vessels  may  be  laid  up  dry,  and  under  cover 
from  the  sun.  Under  these  circumstances,  experience 
proves  that  works  of  wood  will  remain  scarcely  at  all  af 
fected  by  time.  The  great  abundance  of  running  water 
which  this  situation  possesses,  at  heights  far  above  the 
level  of  the  tide,  if  employed  as  is  practised  for  lock  na 
vigation,  furnishes  the  means  for  raising  and  laying  up 
our  vessels  on  a  dry  and  sheltered  bed.  And  should  the 
measure  be  found  useful  here,  similar  depositories  for 
laying  up,  as  well  as  for  building  and  repairing  vessels, 
may  hereafter  be  undertaken  at  other  navy  yards  offering 
the  same  means.  The  plans  and  estimates  of  the  work, 
prepared  by  a  person  of  skill  and  experience,  will  be 
presented  to  you  without  delay  ;  and  from  this  it  will  be 
seen  that  scarcely  more  than  has  been  the  cost  of  one 
vessel  is  necessary  to  save  the  whole,  and  that  the  annual 
sum  to  be  employed  towards  its  completion  may  be 
adapted  to  the  views  of  the  legislature  as  to  naval  ex 
penditure. 

To  cultivate  peace,  and  maintain  commerce  and  navi- 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE.  139 

gation  in  all  their  lawful  enterprises  ;  to  foster  our  fish 
eries  as  nurseries  of  navigation  and  for  the  nurture  of 
man,  and  protect  the  manufactures  adapted  to  our  cir 
cumstances  ;  to  preserve  the  faith  of  the  nation  by  an 
exact  discharge  of  its  debts  and  contracts,  expend  the 
public  money  with  the  same  care  and  economy  we  would 
practise  with  our  own,  and  impose  on  our  citizens  no 
unnecessary  burdens  ;  to  keep,  in  all  things,  within  the 
pale  of  our  constitutional  powers,  and  cherish  the  federal 
union  as  the  only  rock  of  safety  :  these,  fellow-citizens, 
are  the  landmarks  by  which  we  are  to  guide  ourselves 
in  all  our  proceedings. 

By  continuing  to  make  these  the  rule  of  our  action,  we 
shall  endear  to  our  countrymen  the  true  principles  of 
their  constitution,  and  promote  a  union  of  sentiment 
and  of  action,  equally  auspicious  to  their  happiness  and 
safety.  On  my  part  you  may  count  on  a  cordial  concur 
rence  in  every  measure  for  the  public  good,  and  on  all 
the  information  I  possess  which  may  enable  you  to  dis 
charge  to  advantage  the  high  functions  with  which  you 
are  invested  by  your  country. 


SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 
JANUARY  28,  1802. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate, 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  lay  before  you  the  accounts  of  our  Indian  trading- 
houses,  as  rendered  up  to  the  1st  day  of  January,  1801, 
with  a  report  of  the  secretary  of  war  thereon,  explain 
ing  the  effects  and  the  situation  of  that  commerce,  and 
the  reasons  in  favor  of  its  further  extension.  But  it  is 
believed  that  the  act  authorizing  this  trade  expired  so  long 
ago  as  the  3d  of  March,  1799.  Its  revival,  therefore,  as 
well  as  its  extension,  is  submitted  to  the  consideration 
of  the  legislature. 

The  act  regulating  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  In- 


140  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

dian  tribes  will  also  expire  on  the  third  day  of  March 
next.  While  on  the  subject  of  its  continuance,  it  will  be 
worthy  the  consideration  of  the  legislature,  whether  the 
provisions  of  the  law  inflicting  on  Indians,  in  certain  ca 
ses,  the  punishment  of  death  by  hanging,  might  not  per 
mit  its  commutation  into  death  by  military  execution ;  the 
form  of  the  punishment  in  the  former  way  being  pecu 
liarly  repugnant  to  their  ideas,  and  increasing  the  obsta 
cles  to  the  surrender  of  the  criminal. 

These  people  are  becoming  very  sensible  of  the  bane 
ful  effects  produced  on  their  morals,  their  health,  and  ex 
istence,  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  and  some  of  them 
earnestly  desire  a  prohibition  of  that  article  from  being 
carried  among  them.  The  legislature  will  consider  whe 
ther  the  effectuating  that  desire  would  not  be  in  the  spirit 
of  benevolence  and  liberality  which  they  have  hitherto 
practised  towards  these  our  neighbors,  and  which  has  had 
so  happy  an  effect  towards  conciliating  their  friendship. 
It  has  been  found,  too,  in  experience,  that  the  same  abuse 
gives  frequent  rise  to  incidents  tending  much  to  commit 
our  peace  with  the  Indians. 

It  is  now  become  necessary  to  run  and  mark  the  boun 
daries  between  them  and  us  in  various  parts.  The  law 
last  mentioned  has  authorized  this  to  be  done,  but  no  ex 
isting  appropriation  meets  the  expense. 

Certain  papers  explanatory  of  the  grounds  of  this  com 
munication  are  herewith  enclosed. 


THIRD  ANNUAL  MESSAGE 

OCTOBER  17,  1803. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States  : 

In  calling  you  together,  fellow-citizens,  at  an  earlier 
day  than  was  contemplated  by  the  act  of  the  last  session 
of  Congress,  I  have  not  been  insensible  to  the  personal 
inconveniences  necessarily  resulting  from  an  unexpected 


THIRD    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  141 

change  in  your  arrangements.  But  matters  of  great  pub 
lic  concernment  have  rendered  this  call  necessary,  and 
the  interest  you  feel  in  these  will  supersede,  in  your 
minds,  all  private  considerations. 

Congress  witnessed,  at  the  late  session,  the  extraordi 
nary  agitation  produced  in  the  public  mind  by  the  sus 
pension  of  our  right  of  deposit  at  the  port  of  New  Or 
leans,  no  assignment  of  another  place  having  been  made 
according  to  treaty.  They  were  sensible  that  the  con 
tinuance  of  that  privation  would  be  more  injurious  to  our 
nation  than  any  consequences  which  could  flow  from  any 
mode  of  redress  ;  but  reposing  just  confidence  in  the  good 
faith  of  the  government  whose  officer  had  committed  the 
wrong,  friendly  and  reasonable  representations  were  re 
sorted  to,  and  the  right  of  deposit  was  restored. 

Previous,  however,  to  this  period,  we  had  not  been  un^ 
aware  of  the  danger  to  which  our  peace  would  be  perpet 
ually  exposed,  whilst  so  important  a  key  to  the  commerce 
of  the  western  country  remained  under  foreign  power. 
Difficulties,  too,  were  presenting  themselves  as  to  the 
navigation  of  other  streams,  which,  arising  within  our  ter 
ritories,  pass  through  those  adjacent.  Propositions  had 
therefore  been  authorized  for  obtaining,  on  fair  condi 
tions,  the  sovereignty  of  New  Orleans  and  of  other  pos 
sessions  in  that  quarter,  interesting  to  our  quiet>  to  such 
extent  as  was  deemed  practicable ;  and  the  provisional 
appropriation  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  to  be  applied  and 
accounted  for  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in 
tended  as  part  of  the  price,  was  considered  as  conveying 
the  sanction  of  Congress  to  the  acquisition  proposed. 
The  enlightened  government  of  France  saw,  with  just 
discernment,  the  importance  to  both  nations  of  such  libe 
ral  arrangement,  as  might  best  and  permanently  promote 
the  peace,  interests,  and  friendship  of  both  ;  and  the  pro 
perty  and  sovereignty  of  all  Louisiana,  which  had  been 
restored  to  them,  has,  on  certain  conditions,  been  trans 
ferred  to  the  United  States,  by  instruments  bearing  date 
the  30th  of  April  last.  When  these  shall  have  received 
the  constitutional  sanction  of  the  Senate,  they  will,  with 
out  delay,  be  communicated  to  their  representatives  for 
the  exercise  of  their  functions,  as  to  those  conditions 


142  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

which  are  within  the  powers  vested  by  the  constitution  in 
Congress.  Whilst  the  property  and  sovereignty  of  the 
Mississippi  and  its  waters  secure  an  independent  outlet 
for  the  produce  of  the  western  states,  and  an  uncontrolled 
navigation  through  their  whole  course,  free  from  collision 
with  other  powers,  and  the  dangers  to  our  peace  from  that 
source,  the  fertility  of  the  country,  its  climate  and  extent, 
promise,  in  due  season,  important  aids  to  our  treasury,  an 
ample  provision  for  our  posterity,  and  a  wide  spread  for 
the  blessings  of  freedom  and  equal  laws. 

With  the  wisdom  of  Congress  it  will  rest  to  take  those 
ulterior  measures  which  may  be  necessary  for  the  imme 
diate  occupation  and  temporary  government  of  the  coun 
try  ;  for  its  incorporation  into  our  Union ;  for  rendering 
the  change  of  government  a  blessing  to  our  newly  adopt 
ed  brethren  ;  for  securing  to  them  the  rights  of  conscience 
and  of  property;  for  confirming  to  the  Indian  inhabitants 
their  occupancy  and  self-government,  establishing  friendly 
and  commercial  relations  with  them  ;  and  for  ascertain 
ing  the  geography  of  the  country  acquired.  Such  mate 
rials  for  your  information,  relative  to  its  affairs  in  gene 
ral,  as  the  short  space  of  time  has  permitted  me  to  col 
lect,  will  be  laid  before  you  when  the  subject  shall  be  in 
a  state  for  your  consideration. 

Another  important  acquisition  of  territory  has  also  been 
made  since  the  last  session  of  Congress.  The  friendly 
tribe  of  Kaskaskia  Indians,  with  which  we  have  never  had 
a  difference,  reduced  by  the  wars  and  wants  of  savage 
life  to  a  few  individuals,  unable  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  neighboring  tribes,  has  transferred  its  country 
to  the  United  States,  reserving  only  for  its  members  what 
is  sufficient  to  maintain  them  in  an  agricultural  way. 
The  considerations  stipulated  are,  that  we  shall  extend  to 
them  our  patronage  and  protection,  and  give  them  certain 
annual  aids,  in  money,  in  implements  of  agriculture,  and 
other  articles  of  their  choice.  This  country,  among  the 
most  fertile  within  our  limits,  extending  along  the  Mis 
sissippi  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  to  and  up  the  Ohio, 
though  not  so  necessary  as  a  barrier  since  the  acquisition 
of  the  other  bank,  may  yet  be  well  worthy  of  being  laid 
open  to  immediate  settlement,  as  its  inhabitants  may  de- 


THIRD    ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  143 

scend  with  rapidity  in  support  of  the  lower  country,  should 
future  circumstances  expose  that  to  foreign  enterprise. 
As  the  stipulations  in  this  treaty  also  involve  matters 
within  the  competence  of  both  houses  only,  it  will  be 
laid  before  Congress  as  soon  as  the  Senate  shall  have  ad 
vised  its  ratification. 

With  many  of  the  other  Indian  tribes  improvements 
in  agriculture  and  household  manufactures  are  advan 
cing;  and,  with  all,  our  peace  and  friendship  are  esta 
blished  on  grounds  much  firmer  than  heretofore.  The 
measure  adopted  of  establishing  trading  houses  among 
them,  and  of  furnishing  them  necessaries  in  exchange  for 
their  commodities  at  such  moderate  prices  as  leave  no 
gain,  but  cover  us  from  loss,  has  the  most  conciliatory 
and  useful  effect  on  them,  and  is  that  which  will  best 
secure  their  peace  and  good  will. 

The  small  vessels  authorized  by  Congress  with  a  view 
to  the  Mediterranean  service,  have  been  sent  into  that 
sea,  and  will  be  able  more  effectually  to  confine  the  Tri- 
poline  cruisers  within  their  harbors,  and  supersede  the 
necessity  of  convoy  to  our  commerce  in  that  quarter. 
They  will  sensibly  lessen  the  expenses  of  that  service  the 
ensuing  year. 

A  further  knowledge  of  the  ground  in  the  north-east 
ern  and  north-western  angles  of  the  United  States,  has 
evinced  that  the  boundaries  established  by  the  treaty  of 
Paris  between  the  British  territories  and  ours  in  those 
parts,  were  too  imperfectly  described  to  be  susceptible 
of  execution.  It  has  therefore  been  thought  worthy  of 
attention,  for  preserving  and  cherishing  the  harmony  and 
usefurintercourse  subsisting  between  the  two  nations,  to 
remove,  by  timely  arrangements,  what  unfavorable  inci 
dents  might  otherwise  render  a  ground  of  future  misun 
derstanding.  A  convention  has  therefore  been  entered 
into,  which  provides  for  a  practicable  demarkation  of 
those  limits,  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties. 

An  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the 
year  ending  30th  September  last,  witli  the  estimates  for 
the  service  of  the  ensuing  year,  will  be  laid  before  you 
by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  so  soon  as  the  receipts 
of  the  last  quarter  shall  be  returned  from  the  more  dis- 


H4  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

tant  states.  It  is  already  ascertained  that  the  amount 
paid  into  the  treasury  for  that  year  has  been  between 
eleven  and  twelve  millions  of  dollars;  and  that  the  reve 
nue  accrued,  during  the  same  term,  exceeds  the  sum 
counted  on  as  sufficient  for  our  current  expenses,  and  to 
extinguish  the  public  debt  within  the  period  heretofore 
proposed. 

The  amount  of  debt  paid  for  the  same  year  is  about 
three  millions  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  exclusive  of 
interest,  and  making,  with  the  payment  of  the  preceding 
year,  a  discharge  of  more  than  eight  millions  and  a  half 
of  dollars  of  the  principal  of  that  debt,  besides  the  ac 
cruing  interest ;  and  there  remain  in  the  treasury  nearly 
six  millions  of  dollars.  Of  these,  eight  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  have  been  reserved  for  payment  of  the 
first  instalment  due  under  the  British  convention  of  Janu 
ary  8th,  1802,  and  two  millions  are  what  have  been  be 
fore  mentioned  as  placed  by  Congress,  under  the  power 
and  accountability  of  the  President,  towards  the  price  of 
New  Orleans  and  other  territories  acquired,  which,  re 
maining  untouched,  are  still  applicable  to  that  object,  and 
go  in  diminution  of  the  sum  to  be  funded  for  it. 

Should  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  be  constitutionally 
confirmed  and  carried  into  effect,  a  sum  of  nearly  thir 
teen  millions  of  dollars  will  then  be  added  to  our  public 
debt,  most  of  which  is  payable  after  fifteen  years;  before 
which  term,  the  present  existing  debts  will  all  be  dis 
charged  by  the  established  operation  of  the  sinking  fund. 
When  we  contemplate  the  ordinary  annual  augmentation 
of  impost  from  increasing  population  and  wealth,  the 
augmentation  of  the  same  revenue  by  its  extension  to 
the  new  acquisition,  and  the  economies  which  may  still 
be  introduced  into  our  public  expenditures,  I  cannot  but 
hope  that  Congress,  in  reviewing  their  resources,  will 
find  means  to  meet  the  intermediate  interest  of  this  addi 
tional  debt,  without  recurring  to  new  taxes ;  and  apply 
ing  to  this  object  only  the  ordinary  progression  of  our 
revenue,  its  extraordinary  increase  in  times  of  foreign 
war  will  be  the  proper  and  sufficient  fund  for  any  mea 
sures  of  safety  or  precaution  which  that  state  of  things 
may  render  necessary  in  our  neutral  position. 


THIRD    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  145 

Remittances  for  the  instalments  of  our  foreign  debt 
having  been  found  practicable  without  loss,  it  has  not 
been  thought  expedient  to  use  the  power,  given  by  a  for 
mer  act  of  Congress,  of  continuing  them  by  re-loans,  and 
of  redeeming,  instead  thereof,  equal  sums  of  domestic 
debt,  although  no  difficulty  was  found  in  obtaining  that 
accommodation. 

The  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  appropriated  by  Con 
gress  for  providing  gun-boats,  remains  unexpended.  The 
favorable  and  peaceable  turn  of  affairs  on  the  Mississippi 
rendered  an  immediate  execution  of  that  law  unneces 
sary  ;  and  time  was  desirable  in  order  that  the  institution 
of  that  branch  of  our  force  might  begin  on  models  the 
most  approved  by  experience.  The  same  issue  of  events 
dispensed  with  a  resort  to  the  appropriation  of  a  million 
and  a  half  of  dollars  contemplated  for  purposes  which 
were  effected  by  happier  means. 

We  have  seen  with  sincere  concern  the  flames  of  war 
lighted  up  again  in  Europe,  and  nations,  with  which  we 
have  the  most  friendly  and  useful  relations,  engaged  in 
mutual  destruction.  While  we  regret  the  miseries  in 
which  we  see  others  involved,  let  us  bow  with  gratitude 
to  that  kind  Providence,  which,  inspiring  with  wisdom 
and  moderation  our  late  legislative  councils,  while  placed 
under  the  urgency  of  the  greatest  wrongs,  guarded  us 
from  hastily  entering  into  the  sanguinary  contest,  and 
left  us  only  to  look  on  and  to  pity  its  ravages.  These 
will  be  heaviest  on  those  immediately  engaged.  Yet  the 
nations  pursuing  peace  will  not  be  exempt  from  all  evil. 
In  the  course  of  this  conflict,  let  it  be  our  endeavor,  as 
it  is  our  interest  and  desire,  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of 
the  belligerent  nations  by  every  act  of  justice  and  of  in 
nocent  kindness ;  to  receive  their  armed  vessels  with 
hospitality  from  the  distress  of  the  sea,  but  to  administer 
the  means  of  annoyance  to  none ;  to  establish  in  our 
harbors  such  a  police  as  may  maintain  law  and  order ;  to 
restrain  our  citizens  from  embarking  individually  in  a 
war  in  which  their  country  takes  no  part ;  to  punish  se 
verely  those  persons,  citizen  or  alien,  who  shall  usurp  the 
cover  of  our  flag  for  vessels  not  entitled  to  it,  infecting 
thereby  with  suspicion  those  of  real  Americans,  and  com- 

VOL.  II.  13 


146  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

milling  us  into  controversies  for  the  redress  of  wrongs 
not  our  own ;  to  exact  from  every  nation  the  observance, 
towards  our  vessels  and  citizens,  of  those  principles  and 
practices  which  all  civilized  people  acknowledge;  to 
merit  the  character  of  a  just  nation,  and  maintain  that 
of  an  independent  one,  preferring  every  consequence  to 
insult  and  habitual  wrong.  Congress  will  consider  whe 
ther  the  existing  laws  enable  us  efficaciously  to  maintain 
this  course  with  our  citizens  in  all  places,  and  with  others 
while  within  the  limits  of  our  jurisdiction ;  and  will  give 
them  the  new  modifications  necessary  for  these  objects. 
Some  contraventions  of  right  have  already  taken  place, 
both  within  our  jurisdictional  limits  and  on  the  high  seas. 
The  friendly  disposition  of  the  governments  from  whose 
agents  they  have  proceeded,  as  well  as  their  wisdom  and 
regard  for  justice,  leave  us  in  reasonable  expectation  that 
they  will  be  rectified,  and  prevented  in  future ;  and  that 
no  act  will  be  countenanced  by  them  which  threatens  to 
disturb  our  friendly  intercourse.  Separated  by  a  wide 
ocean  from  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  from  the  political 
interests  which  entangle  them  together,  with  productions 
and  wants  which  render  our  commerce  and  friendship 
useful  to  them,  and  theirs  to  us,  it  cannot  be  the  interest 
of  any  to  assail  us,  nor  ours  to  disturb  them.  We  should 
be  most  unwise,  indeed,  were  we  to  cast  away  the  singu 
lar  blessings  of  the  position  in  which  nature  has  placed 
us ;  the  opportunity  she  has  endowed  us  with  of  pursu 
ing,  at  a  distance  from  foreign  contentions,  the  paths  of 
industry,  peace,  and  happiness;  of  cultivating  general 
friendship,  and  of  bringing  collisions  of  interest  to  the 
umpire  of  reason  rather  than  of  force.  How  desirable 
then  must  it  be,  in  a  government  like  ours,  to  see  its  citi 
zens  adopt,  individually,  the  views,  the  interests,  and 
the  conduct  which  their  country  should  pursue,  divesting 
themselves  of  those  passions  and  partialities  which  tend 
to  lessen  useful  friendships,  and  to  embarrass  and  em 
broil  us  in  the  calamitous  scenes  of  Europe.  Confident, 
fellow-citizens,  that  you  will  duly  estimate  the  importance 
of  neutral  dispositions  towards  the  observance  of  neutral 
conduct,  that  you  will  be  sensible  how  much  it  is  our 
duty  to  look  on  the  bloody  arena  spread  before  us,  with 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE.  147 

commiseration,  indeed,  but  with  no  other  wish  than  to 
see  it  closed.  I  am  persuaded  you  will  cordially  cherish 
these  dispositions  in  all  discussions  among  yourselves, 
and  in  all  communications  with  your  constituents ;  and  I 
anticipate  with  satisfaction  the  measures  of  wisdom  which 
the  great  interests  now  committed  to  you  will  give  you 
an  opportunity  of  providing,  and  myself  that  of  approv 
ing  and  carrying  into  execution  with  the  fidelity  I  owe  to 
my  country. 


SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 

NOVEMBER   4,    1803. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

By  the  copy  now  communicated  of  a  letter  from  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge,  of  the  Philadelphia  frigate,  to  our  consul 
at  Gibraltar,  you  will  learn  that  an  act  of  hostility  has 
been  committed  on  a  merchant  vessel  of  the  United  States 
by  an  armed  ship  of  the  emperor  of  Morocco.  This 
conduct  on  the  part  of  that  power  is  without  cause,  and 
without  explanation.  It  is  fortunate  that  Captain  Bain- 
bridge  fell  in  with  and  took  the  capturing  vessel  and  her 
prize ;  and  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that 
about  the  date  of  this  transaction,  such  a  force  would  be 
arriving  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gibraltar,  both  from  the 
east  and  the  west,  as  leaves  less  to  be  feared  for  our  com 
merce  from  the  suddenness  of  the  aggression. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  the  Constitution  frigate, 
Captain  Preble,  with  Mr.  Lear  on  board,  was  within  two 
days'  sail  of  Gibraltar,  where  the  Philadelphia  would  then 
be  arrived  with  her  prize ;  and  such  explanations  would 
probably  be  instituted  as  the  state  of  things  required,  and 
as  might  perhaps  arrest  the  progress  of  hostilities. 

In  the  mean  while,  it  is  for  Congress  to  consider  the 
provisional  authorities  which  may  be  necessary  to  restrain 
the  depredations  of -this  power,  should  they  be  continued. 


148  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

SPECIAL    MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER  5,  1803. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  the  act  of 
hostility,  mentioned  in  my  message  of  the  4th  of  Novem 
ber,  to  have  been  committed  by  a  cruiser  of  the  emperor 
of  Morocco  on  a  vessel  of  the  United  States,  has  been 
disavowed  by  the  emperor.  All  differences  in  conse 
quence  thereof  have  been  amicably  adjusted,  and  the 
treaty  of  1786,  between  this  country  and  that,  has  been 
recognized  and  confirmed  by  the  emperor,  each  party 
restoring  to  the  other  what  had  been  detained  or  taken. 
I  enclose  the  emperor's  orders  on  this  occasion. 

The  conduct  of  our  officers  generally,  who  have  had 
a  part  in  these  transactions,  has  merited  entire  appro 
bation. 

The  temperate  and  correct  course  pursued  by  our  con 
sul,  Mr.  Simpson,  the  promptitude  and  energy  of  Com 
modore  Preble,  the  efficacious  co-operation  of  Captains 
Rodgers  and  Campbell  of  the  returning  squadron,  the 
proper  decision  of  Captain  Bainbridge,  that  a  vessel 
which  had  committed  an  open  hostility,  was  of  right  to 
be  detained  for  inquiry  and  consideration,  and  the  general 
zeal  of  the  other  officers  and  men,  are  honorable  facts, 
which  I  make  known  with  pleasure.  And  to  these  I  add, 
what  was  indeed  transacted  in  another  quarter,  the  gal 
lant  enterprise  of  Captain  Rodgers,  in  destroying,  on  the 
coast  of  Tripoli,  a  corvette  of  that  power,  of  twenty-two 
guns. 

I  recommend  to  the  consideration  of  Congress  a  just 
indemnification  for  the  interest  acquired  by  the  captors 
of  the  Mishouda  and  Mirboha,  yielded  by  them  for  the 
public  accommodation. 


FOURTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  149 

FOURTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

NOVEMBER  8,  1804. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

To  a  people,  fellow-citizens,  who  sincerely  desire  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  other  nations,  to  those  who 
justly  calculate  that  their  own  well-being  is  advanced  by 
that  of  the  nations  with  which  they  have  intercourse,  it 
will  be  a  satisfaction  to  observe,  that  the  war  which  was 
lighted  up  in  Europe  a  little  before  our  last  meeting  has 
not  yet  extended  its  flames  to  other  nations,  nor  been 
marked  by  the  calamities  which  sometimes  stain  the  foot 
steps  of  war.  The  irregularities,  too,  on  the  ocean, 
which  generally  harass  the  commerce  of  neutral  nations, 
have,  in  distant  parts,  disturbed  ours  less  than  on  former 
occasions.  But,  in  the  American  seas,  they  have  been 
greater  from  peculiar  causes ;  and  even  within  our  har 
bors  and  jurisdiction,  infringements  on  the  authority  of 
the  laws  have  been  committed,  which  have  called  for  seri 
ous  attention.  The  friendly  conduct  of  the  governments 
from  whose  officers  and  subjects  these  acts  have  proceed 
ed,  in  other  respects,  and  in  places  more  under  their  ob 
servation  and  control,  gives  us  confidence  that  our  re 
presentations  on  this  subject  will  have  been  properly  re 
garded. 

While  noticing  the  irregularities  committed  on  the 
ocean  by  others,  those  on  our  own  part  should  not  be 
omitted,  nor  left  unprovided  for.  Complaints  have  been 
received  that  persons,  residing  within  the  United  States, 
have  taken  on  themselves  to  arm  merchant  vessels,  and 
to  force  a  commerce  into  certain  ports  and  countries,  in 
defiance  of  the  laws  of  those  countries.  That  individu 
als  should  undertake  to  wage  private  war,  independently 
of  the  authority  of  their  country,  cannot  be  permitted  in 
a  well-ordered  society.  Its  tendency  to  produce  aggres 
sion  on  the  laws  and  rights  of  other  nations,  and  to  en^ 
danger  the  peace  of  our  own,  is  so  obvious,  that  I  doubt 
not  you  will  adopt  measures  for  restraining  it  effectually 
in  future. 

VOL.  H.          13* 


150  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  the  last  session, 
authorizing  the  establishment  of  a  district  and  port  of 
entry  on  the  waters  of  the  Mobile,  we  learnt  that  its  ob 
ject  was  misunderstood  on  the  part  of  Spain.  Candid 
explanations  were  immediately  given,  and  assurances  that, 
reserving  our  claims  in  that  quarter  as  a  subject  of  dis 
cussion  and  arrangement  with  Spain,  no  act  was  medita 
ted  in  the  mean  time  inconsistent  with  the  peace  and 
friendship  existing  between  the  two  nations,  and  that  con 
formable  to  these  intentions  would  be  the  execution  of 
the  law.  That  government  had,  however,  thought  pro 
per  to  suspend  the  ratification  of  the  convention  of  1802. 
But  the  explanations  which  would  reach  them  soon  after, 
and  still  more  the  confirmation  of  them  by  the  tenor  of 
the  instrument  establishing  the  port  and  district,  may 
reasonably  be  expected  to  replace  them  in  the  dispositions 
and  views  of  the  whole  subject  which  originally  dictated 
the  convention. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  the  objections 
which  had  been  urged  by  that  government  against  the  va 
lidity  of  our  title  to  the  country  of  Louisiana  have  been 
withdrawn ;  its  exact  limits,  however,  remaining  still  to 
be  settled  between  us.  And  to  this  is  to  be  added,  that, 
having  prepared  and  delivered  the  stock  created  in  exe 
cution  of  the  convention  in  Paris,  of  April  30th,  1803, 
in  consideration  of  the  cession  of  that  country,  we  have 
received  from  the  government  of  France  an  acknowledg 
ment,  in  due  form,  of  the  fulfilment  of  that  stipulation. 

With  the  nations  of  Europe,  in  general,  our  friendship 
and  intercourse  are  undisturbed,  and  from  the  govern 
ments  of  the  belligerent  powers  especially,  we  continue 
to  receive  those  friendly  manifestations  which  are  justly 
due  to  an  honest  neutrality,  and  to  such  good  offices  con 
sistent  with  that  as  we  have  opportunities  of  rendering. 

The  activity  and  success  of  the  small  force  employed 
in  the  Mediterranean  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
year,  the  reinforcements  sent  into  that  sea,  and  the  energy 
of  the  officers  having  command  in  the  several  vessels, 
will  I  trust,  by  the  sufferings  of  war,  reduce  the  barbarians 
of  Tripoli  to  the  desire  of  peace  on  proper  terms.  Great 
injury,  however,  ensues  to  ourselves,  as  well  as  to  others 


FOURTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  151 

interested,  from  the  distance  to  which  prizes  must  be 
brought  for  adjudication,  and  from  the  impracticability  of 
bringing  hither  such  as  are  not  seaworthy. 

The  bey  of  Tunis  having  made  requisitions  unautho 
rized  by  our  treaty,  their  rejection  has  produced  from  him 
some  expressions  of  discontent.  But  to  those  who  expect 
us  to  calculate  whether  a  compliance  with  unjust  demands 
will  not  cost  us  less  than  a  war,  we  must  leave  as  a 
question  of  calculation  for  them  also,  whether  to  retire 
from  unjust  demands  will  not  cost  them  less  than  a  war. 
We  can  do  to  each  other  very  sensible  injuries  by  war  ; 
but  the  mutual  advantages  of  peace  make  that  the  best 
interest  of  both. 

Peace  and  intercourse  with  the  other  powers  on  the 
same  coast  continue  on  the  footing  on  which  they  are 
established  by  treaty. 

In  pursuance  of  the  act  providing  for  the  temporary 
government  of  Louisiana,  the  necessary  officers  for  the 
territory  of  Orleans  were  appointed  in  due  time,  to  com 
mence  the  exercise  of  their  functions  on  the  first  day  of 
October.  The  distance,  however,  of  some  of  them,  and 
indispensable  previous  arrangements,  may  have  retarded 
its  commencement  in  some  of  its  parts ;  the  form  of  go 
vernment  thus  provided  having  been  considered  but  as 
temporary,  and  open  to  such  future  improvements  as 
further  information  of  the  circumstances  of  our  brethren 
there  might  suggest,  it  will  of  course  be  subject  to  your 
consideration. 

In  the  district  of  Louisiana  it  has  been  thought  best 
to  adopt  the  division  into  subordinate  districts  which  had 
been  established  under  its  former  government.  These 
being  five  in  number,  a  commanding  officer  has  been  ap 
pointed  to  each,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  law, 
and  so  soon  as  they  can  be  at  their  station,  that  district 
will  also  be  in  its  due  state  of  organization  ;  in  the  mean 
time  their  places  are  supplied  by  the  officers  before  com 
manding  there.  The  functions  of  the  governor  and 
judges  of  Indiana  have  commenced ;  the  government,  we 
presume,  is  proceeding  in  its  new  form.  The  lead  mines 
in  that  territory  offer  so  rich  a  supply  of  that  metal  as  to 
merit  attention.  The  report  now  communicated  will  in- 


152  THE    TRUE   AMERICAN. 

form  you  of  their  state,  and  of  the  necessity  of  immedi 
ate  inquiry  into  their  occupation  and  title. 

With  the  Indian  tribes  established  within  our  newly 
acquired  limits,  I  have  deemed  it  necessary  to  open  con 
ferences  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  good  under 
standing  and  neighborly  relations  between  us.  So  far  as 
we  have  yet  learned,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  their 
dispositions  are  generally  favorable  and  friendly,  and, 
with  these  dispositions  on  their  part,  we  have  in  our  own 
hands  means  which  cannot  fail  us  for  preserving  their 
peace  and  friendship.  By  pursuing  a  uniform  course  of 
justice  towards  them,  by  aiding  them  in  all  the  improve 
ments  which  may  better  their  condition,  and  especially 
by  establishing  a  commerce  on  terms  which  shall  be  ad 
vantageous  to  them,  and  only  not  losing  to  us,  and  so 
regulated  as  that  no  incendiaries  of  our  own  or  any 
other  nation,  may  be  permitted  to  disturb  the  natural  ef 
fects  of  our  just  and  friendly  offices,  we  may  render  our 
selves  so  necessary  to  their  comfort  and  prosperity,  that 
the  protection  of  our  citizens  from  their  disorderly  mem 
bers  will  become  their  interest  and  their  voluntary  care. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  an  augmentation  of  military  force 
proportioned  to  our  extension  of  frontier,  I  propose  a 
moderate  enlargement  of  the  capital  employed  in  that 
commerce,  as  a  more  effectual,  economical,  and  humane 
instrument  for  preserving  peace  and  good  neighborhood 
with  them. 

On  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  an  important  relinquish- 
ment  of  native  title  has  been  received  from  the  Dele- 
wares.  That  tribe,  desiring  to  extinguish  in  their  people 
the  spirit  of  hunting,  and  to  convert  superfluous  lands 
into  the  means  of  improving  what  they  retain,  has  ceded 
to  us  all  the  country  between  the  Wabash  and  Ohio, 
south  of  and  including  the  road  from  the  rapids  towards 
Vincennes ;  for  which  they  are  to  receive  annuities  in 
animals  and  implements  for  agriculture,  and  in  other  ne 
cessaries.  This  acquisition  is  important,  not  only  for  its 
extent  and  fertility,  but  as  fronting  three  hundred  miles 
on  the  Ohio,  arid  near  half  that  on  the  Wabash ;  the  pro 
duce  of  the  settled  countries  descending  those  rivers  will 
no  longer  pass  in  review  of  the  Indian  frontier  but  in  a 


FOURTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  153 

small  portion ;  and  with  the  cession  heretofore  made  by 
the  Kaskaskias,  nearly  consolidates  our  possessions  north 
of  the  Ohio  in  a  very  respectable  breadth,  from  Lake 
Erie  to  the  Mississippi.  The  Piankeshaws  having  some 
claim  to  the  country  ceded  by  the  Delawares,  it  has  been 
thought  best  to  quiet  that  by  fair  purchase  also.  So  soon 
as  the  treaties  on  this  subject  shall  have  received  their 
constitutional  sanctions,  they  shall  be  laid  before  both 
houses. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  February  28,  1803,  for  build 
ing  and  employing  a  number  of  gun-boats,  is  now  in  a 
course  of  execution  to  the  extent  there  provided  for. 
The  obstacle  to  naval  enterprise  which  vessels  of  this 
construction  offer  for  our  seaport  towns ;  their  utility 
towards  supporting  within  our  waters  the  authority  of  the 
laws ;  the  promptness  with  which  they  will  be  manned 
by  the  seamen  and  militia  of  the  place  in  the  moment 
they  are  wanting ;  the  facility  of  their  assembling  from 
different  parts  of  the  coast  to  any  point  where  they  are 
required  in  greater'force  than  ordinary  ;  the  economy  of 
their  maintenance  and  preservation  from  decay  when  not 
in  actual  service  ;  and  the  competence  of  our  finances  to 
this  defensive  provision,  without  any  new  burden,  are 
considerations  which  will  have  due  weight  with  Congress 
in  deciding  on  the  expediency  of  adding  to  their  number 
from  year  to  year,  as  experience  shall  test  their  utility, 
until  all  our  important  harbors,  by  these  and  auxiliary 
means,  shall  be  secured  against  insult  and  opposition  to 
the  laws. 

No  circumstance  has  arisen  since  your  last  session 
which  calls  for  any  augmentation  of  our  regular  military 
force.  Should  any  improvement  occur  in  the  militia 
system,  that  will  be  always  seasonable. 

Accounts  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  last 
year,  with  estimates  for  the  ensuing  one,  will,  as  usual, 
be  laid  before  you. 

The  state  of  our  finances  continue  to  fulfil  our  expec 
tations.  Eleven  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars,  received 
in  the  course  of  the  year  ending  the  30th  of  September 
last,  have  enabled  us,  after  meeting  all  the  ordinary  ex 
penses  of  the  year,  to  pay  upwards  of  $3,600,000  of  the 


154  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

public  debt,  exclusive  of  interest.  This  payment,  with 
those  of  the  two  preceding  years,  has  extinguished  up 
wards  of  twelve  millions  of  the  principal,  and  a  greater 
sum  of  interest,  within  that  period ;  and,  by  a  propor 
tional  diminution  of  interest,  renders  already  sensible 
the  effect  of  the  growing  sum  yearly  applicable  to  the 
discharge  of  the  principal. 

It  is  also  ascertained  that  the  revenue  accrued  during 
the  last  year  exceeds  that  of  the  preceding;  and  the 
probable  receipts  of  the  ensuing  year  may  safely  be  relied 
on  as  sufficient,  with  the  sum  already  in  the  treasury,  to 
meet  all  the  current  demands  of  the  year,  to  discharge 
upwards  of  three  millions  and  a  half  of  the  engagements 
incurred  under  the  British  and  French  conventions,  and 
to  advance  in  the  further  redemption  of  the  funded  debts 
as  rapidly  as  had  been  contemplated.  These,  fellow- 
citizens,  are  the  principal  matters  which  I  have  thought 
it  necessary  at  this  time  to  communicate  for  your  consi 
deration  and  attention.  Some  others  will  be  laid  before 
you  in  the  course  of  the  session ;  but,  in  the  discharge 
of  the  great  duties  confided  to  you  by  our  country,  you 
will  take  a  broader  view  of  the  field  of  legislation  :  whe 
ther  the  great  interests  of  agriculture,  manufactures, 
commerce,  or  navigation  can,  within  the  pale  of  your 
constitutional  powers,  be  aided  in  any  of  their  relations  ; 
whether  laws  are  provided  in  all  cases  where  they  are 
wanting ;  whether  those  provided  are  exactly  what  they 
should  be ;  whether  any  abuses  take  place  in  their  ad 
ministration,  or  in  that  of  the  public  revenues ;  whether 
the  organization  of  the  public  agents,  or  of  the  public 
force,  is  perfect  in  all  its  parts :  in  fine,  whether  any 
thing  can  be  done  to  advance  the  general  good,  are 
questions  within  the  limits  of  your  functions,  which  will 
necessarily  occupy  your  attention.  In  these  and  other 
matters  which  you  in  your  wisdom  may  propose  for  the 
good  of  our  country,  you  may  count  with  assurance  on 
my  hearty  co-operation  and  faithful  execution. 


FIFTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  155 

FIFTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER  3,   1805. 

To  the  Senate,  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States : 

At  a  moment  when  the  nations  of  Europe  are  in  com 
motion,  and  arming  against  each  other,  and  when  those 
with  whom  we  have  principal  intercourse  are  engaged  in 
the  general  contest,  and  when  the  countenance  of  some 
of  them  towards  our  peaceable  country  threatens  that 
even  that  may  not  be  unaffected  by  what  is  passing  on 
the  general  theatre,  a  meeting  of  the  representatives  of 
the  nation  in  both  houses  of  Congress  has  become  more 
than  usually  desirable.  Coming  from  every  section  of 
our  country,  they  bring  with  them  the  sentiments  and 
the  information  of  the  whole,  and  will  be  enabled  to  give 
a  direction  to  the  public  affairs  which  the  will  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  whole  will  approve  and  support. 

In  taking  a  view  of  the  state  of  our  country,  we,  in 
the  first  place,  notice  the  late  affliction  of  two  of  our 
cities  under  the  fatal  fever  which,  in  latter  times,  has 
occasionally  visited  our  shores.  Providence,  in  his  good 
ness,  gave  it  an  early  termination  on  this  occasion,  and 
lessened  the  number  of  victims  which  have  usually  fallen 
before  it.  In  the  course  of  the  several  visitations  by  this 
disease,  it  has  appeared  that  it  is  strictly  local,  incident 
to  the  cities  and  on  the  tide  waters  only,  incommunicable 
in  the  country,  either  by  persons  under  the  disease,  or 
by  goods  carried  from  diseased  places  ;  that  its  access  is 
with  the  autumn,  and  it  disappears  with  the  early  frosts. 
These  restrictions  within  narrow  limits  of  time  and  space 
give  security  even  to  our  maritime  cities  during  three 
fourths  of  the  year,  and  to  the  country  always.  Although 
from  these  facts  it  appears  unnecessary,  yet  to  satisfy  the 
fears  of  foreign  nations,  and  cautions  on  their  part,  not 
to  be  complained  of  in  a  danger  whose  limits  are  un 
known  to  them,  I  have  strictly  enjoined  on  the  officers  at 
the  head  of  the  customs  to  certify,  with  exact  truth,  for 
every  vessel  sailing  for  a  foreign  port,  the  state  of  .health 


156  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

respecting  this  fever  which  prevails  at  the  place  from 
which  she  sails.  Under  every  motive  from  character  and 
duty  to  certify  the  truth,  I  have  no  doubt  they  have  faith 
fully  executed  this  injunction.  Much  real  injury  has, 
however,  been  sustained,  from  a  propensity  to  identify 
with  this  epidemic,  and  to  call  by  the  same  name,  fevers 
of  very  different  kinds,  which  have  been  known  at  all 
times  and  in  all  countries,  and  never  have  been  placed 
among  those  deemed  contagious.  As  we  advance  in  our 
knowledge  of  this  disease,  as  facts  develop  the  source 
from  which  individuals  receive  it,  the  state  authorities 
charged  with  the  care  of  the  public  health,  and  Congress 
with  that  of  the  general  commerce,  will  become  able  to 
regulate  with  effect  their  respective  functions  in  these 
departments.  The  burden  of  quarantine  is  felt  at  home 
as  well  as  abroad ;  their  efficacy  merits  examination. 
Although  the  health  laws  of  the  state  should  be  found  to 
need  no  present  revisal  by  Congress,  yet  commerce  claims 
that  their  attention  be  ever  awake  to  them. 

Since  our  last  meeting,  the  aspect  of  our  foreign  rela 
tions  has  considerably  changed.  Our  coasts  have  been 
infested  and  our  harbors  watched  by  private  armed  ves 
sels,  some  of  them  without  commissions,  some  with  illegal 
commissions,  others  with  those  of  legal  form,  but  com 
mitting  piratical  acts  beyond  the  authority  of  their  com 
missions.  They  have  captured  in  the  very  entrance  of 
our  harbors,  as  well  as  on  the  high  seas,  not  only  the 
vessels  of  our  friends  coming  to  trade  with  us,  but  our 
own  also.  They  have  carried  them  off  under  pretence 
of  legal  adjudication  ;  but  not  daring  to  approach  a  court 
of  justice,  they  have  plundered  and  sunk  them  by  the 
way,  or  in  obscure  places,  where  no  evidence  could  arise 
against  them  ;  maltreated  the  crews,  and  abandoned  them 
in  boats  in  the  open  sea,  or  on  desert  shores,  without 
food  or  covering.  These  enormities  appearing  to  be 
unreached  by  any  control  of  their  sovereigns,  I  found  it 
necessary  to  equip  a  force  to  cruise  within  our  own  seas, 
to  arrest  all  vessels  of  these  descriptions  found  hovering 
on  our  coasts,  within  the  limits  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  and 
to  bring  the  offenders  in  for  trial  as  pirates. 

The  same  system  of  hovering  on  our  coasts  and  har- 


FIFTH    ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  157 

bors,  under  color  of  seeking  enemies,  has  been  aiso  car 
ried  on  by  public  armed  ships,  to  the  great  annoyance 
and  oppression  of  our  commerce.  New  principles,  too, 
have  been  interpolated  into  the  law  of  nations,  founded 
neither  in  justice  nor  the  usage  or  acknowledgment  of 
nations.  According  to  these,  a  belligerent  takes  to  itself 
a  commerce  with  its  own  enemy,  which  it  denies  to  a  neu 
tral,  on  the  ground  of  its  aiding  that  enemy  in  the  war. 
But  reason  revolts  at  such  an  inconsistency,  and  the  neu 
tral,  having  an  equal  right  with  the  belligerent  to  decide 
the  question,  the  interests  of  our  constituents,  and  the  duty 
of  maintaining  the  authority  of  reason,  the  only  umpire 
between  just  nations,  impose  on  us  the  obligation  of  pro 
viding  an  effectual  and  determined  opposition  to  a  doc 
trine  so  injurious  to  the  rights  of  peaceable  nations.  In 
deed,  the  confidence  we  ought  to  have  in  the  justice  of 
others,  still  countenances  the  hope  that  a  sounder  view 
of  those  rights  will,  of  itself,  induce  from  every  bellige 
rent  a  more  correct  observance  of  them. 

With  Spain  our  negotiations  for  a  settlement  of  differ 
ences  have  not  had  a  satisfactory  issue.  Spoliations  du 
ring  a  former  war,  for  which  she  had  formerly  acknow 
ledged  herself  responsible  have  been  refused  to  be  com 
pensated,  but  on  conditions  affecting  other  claims  in  no 
wise  connected  with  them.  Yet  the  same  practices  are 
renewed  in  the  present  war,  and  are  already  of  great 
amount.  On  the  Mobile,  our  commerce  passing  through 
that  river  continues  to  be  obstructed  by  arbitrary  duties 
and  vexatious  searches.  Propositions  for  adjusting  ami 
cably  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana  have  not  been  acceded 
to.  While,  however,  the  right  is  unsettled,  we  have 
avoided  changing  the  state  of  things  by  taking  new  posts, 
or  strengthening  ourselves  in  the  disputed  territories,  in 
the  hope  that  the  other  power  would  not,  by  contrary 
conduct,  oblige  us  to  meet  their  example,  and  endanger 
conflicts  of  authority,  the  issue  of  which  may  not  be  ea 
sily  controlled.  But  in  this  hope  we  have  now  reason  to 
lessen  our  confidence.  Inroads  have  been  recently  made 
into  the  territories  of  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi,  our 
citizens  have  been  seized  and  their  property  plundered 
in  the  very  parts  of  the  former  which  had  been  actually 

VOL.  It.  14 


158  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

delivered  up  by  Spain,  and  this  by  the  regular  officers 
and  soldiers  of  that  government.  I  have  therefore  found 
it  necessary,  at  length,  to  give  orders  to  our  troops  on 
that  frontier  to  be  in  readiness  to  protect  our  citizens, 
and  to  repel  by  arms  any  similar  aggressions  in  future. 
Other  details,  necessary  for  your  full  information  of  the 
state  of  things  between  this  country  and  that,  shall  be 
the  subject  of  another  communication.  In  reviewing 
these  injuries  from  some  of  the  belligerent  powers,  the 
moderation,  the  firmness,  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature, 
will  all  be  called  into  action.  We  ought  still  to  hope 
that  time  and  a  more  correct  estimate  of  interest,  as  well 
as  of  character,  will  produce  the  justice  we  are  bound  to 
expect.  But  should  any  nation  deceive  itself  by  false 
calculations,  and  disappoint  that  expectation,  we  must 
join  in  the  unprofitable  contest  of  trying  which  party  can 
do  the  other  the  most  harm.  Some  of  these  injuries  may 
perhaps  admit  a  peaceable  remedy.  Where  that  is  com 
petent,  it  is  always  the  most  desirable.  But  some  of 
them  are  of  a  nature  to  be  met  by  force  only,  and  all  of 
them  may  lead  to  it.  I  cannot,  therefore,  but  recommend 
such  preparations  as  circumstances  call  for.  The  first 
object  is  to  place  our  seaport  towns  out  of  the  danger  of 
insult.  Measures  have  been  already  taken  for  furnishing 
them  with  heavy  cannon  for  the  service  of  such  land 
batteries  as  may  make  a  part  of  their  defence  against 
armed  vessels  approaching  them.  In  aid  of  these  it  is 
desirable  we  should  have  a  competent  number  of  gun 
boats;  arid  the  number,  to  be  competent,  must  be  con 
siderable.  If  immediately  begun,  they  may  be  in  readi 
ness  for  service  at  the  opening  of  the  next  season.  Whe 
ther  it  will  be  necessary  to  augment  our  land  forces  will 
be  decided  by  occurrences  probably  in  the  course  of 
your  session.  In  the  mean  time,  you  will  consider  whe 
ther  it  would  not  be  expedient,  for  a  state  of  peace  as 
well  as  of  war,  so  to  organize  or  class  the  militia,  as 
would  enable  us,  on  any  sudden  emergency,  to  call  for 
the  services  of  the  younger  portions,  uriincumbered  with 
the  old,  and  those  having  families.  Upwards  of  three 
hundred  thousand  able-bodied  men,  between  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  twenty-six  years,  which  the  last  census 


FIFTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  159 

shows  we  may  now  count  within  our  limits,  will  furnish 
a  competent  number  for  offence  or  defence,  in  any  point 
where  they  may  be  wanted,  and  will  give  time  for  raising 
regular  forces  after  the  necessity  of  them  shall  become 
certain  ;  and  the  reducing  to  the  early  period  of  life  all 
its  active  service  cannot  but  be  desirable  to  our  younger 
citizens,  of  the  present  as  well  as  future  times,  inasmuch 
as  it  engages  to  them  in  more  advanced  age  a  quiet  and 
undisturbed  repose  in  the  bosom  of  their  families.  I 
cannot,  then,  but  earnestly  recommend  to  your  early 
consideration  the  expediency  of  so  modifying  our  militia 
system  as,  by  a  separation  of  the  more  active  part  from 
that  which  is  less  so,  we  may  draw  from  it,  when  neces 
sary,  an  efficient  corps,  fit  for  real  and  active  service, 
and  to  be  called  to  it  in  regular  rotation. 

Considerable  provision  has  been  made,  under  former 
authorities  from  Congress,  of  materials  for  the  construc 
tion  of  ships  of  war  of  seventy-four  guns.  These  mate 
rials  are  on  hand,  subject  to  the  further  will  of  the  le 
gislature. 

An  immediate  prohibition  of  the  exportation  of  arms 
and  ammunition  is  also  submitted  to  your  determination. 

Turning  from  these  unpleasant  views  of  violence  and 
wrong,  I  congratulate  you  on  the  liberation  of  our  fel 
low-citizens  who  were  stranded  on  the  coast  of  Tripoli, 
and  made  prisoners  of  war.  In  a  government  bottomed 
on  the  will  of  all,  the  life  and  liberty  of  every  individual 
citizen  becomes  interesting  to  all.  In  the  treaty,  there 
fore,  which  has  concluded  our  warfare  with  that  state, 
an  article  for  the  ransom  of  our  citizens  has  been  agreed 
to.  An  operation  by  land,  by  a  small  band  of  our  coun 
trymen,  and  others  engaged  for  the  occasion,  in  conjunc 
tion  with  the  troops  of  the  ex-bashaw  of  that  country, 
gallantly  conducted  by  our  late  consul  Eaton,  and  their 
successful  enterprise  on  the  city  of  Derne,  contributed, 
doubtless,  to  the  impression  which  produced  peace ;  and 
the  conclusion  of  this  prevented  opportunities  of  which 
the  officers  and  men  of  our  squadron,  destined  for  Tri 
poli,  would  have  availed  themselves,  to  emulate  the  acts 
of  valor  exhibited  by  their  brethren  in  the  attack  of  last 
year.  Reflecting  with  high  satisfaction  on  the  distin- 


160  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

guished  bravery  displayed,  whenever  occasion  permitted, 
in  the  Mediterranean  service,  I  think  it  would  be  a  useful 
encouragement,  as  well  as  a  just  reward,  to  make  an 
opening  for  some  present  promotion,  by  enlarging  our 
peace  establishment  of  captains  and  lieutenants. 

With  Tunis  some  misunderstandings  have  arisen,  not 
yet  sufficiently  explained,  but  friendly  discussions  with 
their  ambassador,  recently  arrived,  and  a  mutual  disposi 
tion  to  do  whatever  is  just  and  reasonable,  cannot  fail  of 
dissipating  these.  So  that  we  may  consider  our  peace  on 
that  coast,  generally,  to  be  on  as  sound  a  footing  as  it  has 
been  at  any  preceding  time.  Still,  it  will  not  be  expedi 
ent  to  withdraw,  immediately,  the  whole  of  our  force  from 
that  sea. 

The  law  for  providing  a  naval  peace  establishment, 
fixes  the  number  of  frigates  which  shall  be  kept  in  con 
stant  service  in  time  of  peace,  and  prescribes  that  they 
shall  be  manned  by  not  more  than  two  thirds  of  their 
complement  of  seamen  and  ordinary  seamen.  Whether 
a  frigate  may  be  trusted  to  two  thirds  only  of  her  proper 
complement  of  men,  must  depend  on  the  nature  of  the 
service  on  which  she  is  ordered.  That  may  sometimes 
for  her  safety,  as  well  as  to  insure  her  object,  require  her 
fullest,  complement.  In  adverting  to  this  subject,  Con 
gress  will  perhaps  consider  whether  the  best  limitation  on 
the  executive  discretion  in  this  case  would  not  be  by  the 
number  of  seamen  which  may  be  employed  in  the  whole 
service,  rather  than  by  the  number  of  vessels.  Occa 
sions  oftener  arise  for  the  employment  of  small  than  of 
large  vessels,  and  it  would  lessen  risk,  as  well  as  expense, 
to  be  authorized  to  employ  them  of  preference.  The 
limitation  suggested  by  the  number  of  seamen  would  ad 
mit  a  selection  of  vessels  best  adapted  to  the  service. 

Our  Indian  neighbors  are  advancing,  many  of  them 
with  spirit,  and  others  beginning  to  engage  in  the  pur 
suits  of  agriculture  and  household  manufacture.  They 
are  becoming  sensible  that  the  earth  yields  subsistence 
with  less  labor  and  more  certainty  than  the  forest,  and 
find  it  their  interest,  from  time  to  time,  to  dispose  of 
parts  of  their  surplus  and  waste  lands  for  the  means  of 
improving  those  they  occupy,  and  of  subsisting  their  fa- 


FIFTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  161 

milies  while  they  are  improving  their  farms.  Since  your 
last  session,  the  northern  tribes  have  sold  to  us  the  lands 
between  the  Connecticut  reserve  and  the  former  Indian 
boundary,  and  those  on  the  Ohio,  from  the  same  bounda 
ry  to  the  Rapids,  and  for  a  considerable  depth  inland. 
The  Chickasaws  and  Cherokees  have  sold  us  the  country 
between  and  adjacent  to  the  two  districts  of  Tennessee, 
and  the  Creeks  the  residue  of  their  lands  in  the  fork  of 
Ocmulgee,  up  to  the  Ulcofauhatche.  The  three  former 
purchases  are  important,  inasmuch  as  they  consolidate 
disjointed  parts  of  our  settled  country,  and  render  their 
intercourse  secure  ;  and  the  second  particularly  so,  as, 
with  the  small  point  on  the  river,  which  we  expect  is  by 
this  time  ceded  by  the  Piankeshaws,  it  completes  our  pos 
session  of  the  whole  of  both  banks  of  the  Ohio,  from  its 
source  to  near  its  mouth,  and  the  navigation  of  that  river 
is  thereby  rendered  forever  safe  to  our  citizens  sett  ed 
and  settling  on  its  extensive  waters.  The  purchase  from 
the  Creeks,  too,  has  been  for  some  time  particularly  in 
teresting  to  the  state  of  Georgia. 

The  several  treaties  which  have  been  mentioned  will 
be  submitted  to  both  houses  of  Congress  for  the  exer 
cise  of  their  respective  functions. 

Deputations,  now  on  their  way  to  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  from  various  nations  of  Indians  inhabiting  the  Mis 
souri  and  other  parts  beyond  the  Mississippi,  come  charged 
with  the  assurances  of  their  satisfaction  with  the  new  re 
lations  in  which  they  are  placed  with  us,  of  their  dispo 
sition  to  cultivate  our  peace  and  friendship,  and  their  de 
sire  to  enter  into  commercial  intercourse  with  us.  A 
statement  of  our  progress  in  exploring  the  principal  rivers 
of  that  country,  and  of  the  information  respecting  them 
hitherto  obtained,  will  be  communicated  so  soon  as  we 
shall  receive  some  further  relations  which  we  have  reason 
hortly  to  expect. 

The  receipts  at  the  treasury  during  the  year  ending 
the  30th  day  of  September  last,  have  exceeded  the  sura 
of  thirteen  millions  of  dollars,  which,  with  not  quite  five 
millions  in  the  treasury  at  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
have  enabled  us,  after  meeting  other  demands,  to  pay 
nearly  two  millions  of  the  debt  contracted  under  the  Bri- 

VOL.  II.  14* 


162  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tish  treaty  and  convention,  upwards  of  four  millions  of 
principal  of  the  public  debt,  and  four  millions  of  interest. 
These  payments,  with  those  which  had  been  made  in 
three  years  and  a  half  preceding,  have  extinguished  of 
the  funded  debt  nearly  eighteen  millions  of  principal. 

Congress,  by  their  act  of  November  10,  1803,  autho 
rized  us  to  borrow  1,750,000  dollars,  towards  meeting 
the  claims  of  our  citizens,  assumed  by  the  convention 
with  France.  We  have  not,  however,  made  use  of  this 
authority,  because  the  sum  of  four  millions  and  a  half, 
which  remained  in  the  treasury  on  the  same  30th  day  of 
September  last,  with  the  receipts  which  we  may  calculate 
on  for  the  ensuing  year,  besides  paying  the  annual  sum 
of  eight  millions  of  dollars,  appropriated  to  the  funded 
debt,  and  meeting  all  the  current  demands  which  may  be 
expected,  will  enable  us  to  pay  the  whole  sum  of  three 
millions  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  as 
sumed  by  the  French  convention,  and  still  leave  us  a  sur 
plus  of  nearly  a  million  of  dollars  at  our  free  disposal. 
Should  you  concur  in  the  provisions  of  arms  and  armed 
vessels,  recommended  by  the  circumstances  of  the  times, 
this  surplus  will  furnish  the  means  of  doing  so. 

On  this  first  occasion  of  addressing  Congress,  since, 
by  the  choice  of  my  constituents,  I  have  entered  on  a 
second  term  of  administration,  I  embrace  the  opportu 
nity  to  give  this  public  assurance,  that  I  will  exert  my 
best  endeavors  to  administer  faithfully  the  executive  de 
partment,  and  will  zealously  co-operate  with  you  in  every 
measure  which  may  tend  to  secure  the  liberty,  property, 
and  personal  safety  of  our  fellow-citizens,  and  to  conso 
lidate  the  republican  forms  and  principles  of  our  govern 
ment. 

In  the  course  of  your  session  you  shall  receive  all  the 
aid  which  I  can  give  for  the  despatch  of  public  business, 
and  all  the  information  necessary  for  your  deliberations, 
of  which  the  interests  of  our  own  country,  and  the  con 
fidence  reposed  in  us  by  others,  will  admit  a  communica 
tion. 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  163 

SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 

JANUARY  13,  1806. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

I  lay  before  Congress  the  application  of  Hamet  Cara- 
malli,  elder  brother  of  the  reigning  bashaw  of  Tripoli, 
soliciting  from  the  United  States  attention  to  his  services 
and  sufferings  in  the  late  war  against  that  state.  And  in 
order  to  possess  them  of  the  grounds  on  which  that  appli 
cation  stands,  the  facts  shall  be  stated  according  to  the 
views  and  information  of  the  executive. 

During  the  war  with  Tripoli,  it  was  suggested  that 
Hamet  Caramalli,  elder  brother  of  the  reigning  bashaw, 
and  driven  by  him  from  his  throne,  meditated  the  reco 
very  of  his  inheritance,  and  that  a  concert  in  action  with 
us  was  desirable  to  him.  We  considered  that  concerted 
operations  by  those  who  have  a  common  enemy  were  en 
tirely  justifiable,  and  might  produce  effects  favorable  to 
both,  without  binding  either  to  guarantee  the  objects  of 
the  other.  But  the  distance  of  the  scene,  the  difficulties 
of  communication,  and  the  uncertainty  of  our  informa 
tion,  inducing  the  less  confidence  in  the  measure,  it  was 
committed  to  our  agents  as  one  which  might  be  resorted 
to  if  it  promised  to  promote  our  success. 

Mr.  Eaton,  however,  (our  late  consul,)  on  his  return 
from  the  Mediterranean,  possessing  personal  knowledge 
of  the  scene,  and  having  confidence  in  the  effect  of  a 
joint  operation,  we  authorized  Commodore  Barren,  then 
proceeding  with  his  squadron,  to  enter  into  an  under 
standing  with  Hamet,  if  he  should  deem  it  useful ;  and 
as  it  was  represented  that  he  would  need  some  aids  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  and  even  of  money,  he  was  au 
thorized  to  furnish  them  to  a  moderate  extent,  according 
to  the  prospect  of  utility  to  be  expected  from  it.  In  order 
to  avail  him  of  the  advantages  of  Mr.  Eaton's  knowledge 
of  circumstances,  an  occasional  employment  was  pro 
vided  for  the  latter  as  an  agent  for  the  navy  in  that  sea. 
Our  expectation  was,  that  an  intercourse  should  be 
kept  up  between  the  ex-bashaw  and  the  commodore ;  that 


164  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

while  the  former  moved  on  by  land,  our  squadron  should 
proceed  with  equal  pace,  so  as  to  arrive  at  their  destina 
tion  together,  and  to  attack  the  common  enemy  by  land 
and  sea  at  the  same  time.  The  instructions  of  June  6 
to  Commodore  Barren,  show  that  a  co-operation  only  was 
intended,  and  by  no  means  a  union  of  our  object  with 
the  fortune  of  the  ex-bashaw ;  and  the  commodore's  let 
ters  of  March  22  and  May  19  prove  that  he  had  the  most 
correct  idea  of  our  intentions.  His  verbal  instructions, 
indeed,  to  Mr.  Eaton  and  Captain  Hull,  if  the  expressions 
are  accurately  committed  to  writing  by  those  gentlemen, 
do  not  limit  the  extent  of  his  co-operation  as  he  probably 
intended  ;  but  it  is  certain,  from  the  ex-bashaw's  letter 
of  January  3d,  written  when  he  was  proceeding  to  join 
Mr.  Eaton,  and  in  which  he  says,  "  Your  operations 
should  be  carried  on  by  sea,  mine  by  land,"  that  he  left 
the  position  in  which  he  was,  with  a  proper  idea  of  the 
nature  of  the  co-operation.  If  Mr.  Eaton's  subsequent 
convention  should  appear  to  bring  forward  other  objects, 
his  letters  of  April  29th  and  May  1st  view  this  convention 
but  as  provisional ;  the  second  article,  as  he  expressly 
states,  guarding  it  against  any  ill  effect,  and  his  letter  of 
June  30th  confirms  this  construction. 

In  the  event  it  was  found  that,  after  placing  the  ex- 
bashaw  in  possession  of  Derne,  one  of  the  most  important 
cities  and  provinces  of  the  country,  where  he  had  resided 
himself  as  governor,  he  was  totally  unable  to  command 
any  resources,  or  to  bear  any  part  in  the  co-operation 
with  us.  This  hope  was  then  at  an  end,  and  we  certainly 
had  never  contemplated,  nor  were  we  prepared,  to  land 
an  army  of  our  own,  or  to  raise,  pay,  or  subsist  an  army 
of  Arabs  to  march  from  Derne  to  Tripoli,  and  to  carry 
on  a  land  war  at  such  a  distance  from  our  resources.  Our 
means  and  our  authority  were  merely  naval,  and  that  such 
were  the  expectations  of  Hamet,  his  letter  of  June  29th 
is  an  unequivocal  acknowledgment.  While,  therefore, 
an  impression  from  the  capture  of  Derne  might  still  ope 
rate  at  Tripoli,  and  an  attack  on  that  place  from  our 
squadron  was  daily  expected,  Colonel  Lear  thought  it  the 
best  moment  to  listen  to  overtures  of  peace,  then  made 
by  the  bashaw.  He  did  so,  and  while  urging  provisions 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  165 

for  the  United  States,  he  paid  attention  also  to  the  inte 
rests  of  Hamet,  but  was  able  to  effect  nothing  more  than 
to  engage  the  restitution  of  his  family  ;  and  even  the  per 
severing  in  this  demand  suspended  for  some  time  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty. 

In  operations  at  such  a  distance,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  leave  much  to  the  discretion  of  the  agents  employed ; 
but  events  may  still  turn  up  beyond  the  limits  of  that  dis 
cretion.  Unable  in  such  case  to  consult  his  government, 
a  zealous  citizen  will  act  as  he  believes  that  would  direct 
him,  were  it  apprized  of  the  circumstances,  and  will  take 
on  himself  the  responsibility.  In  all  these  cases,  the 
purity  and  patriotism  of  the  motives  should  shield  the 
agent  from  blame,  and  even  secure  a  sanction  where  the 
error  is  not  too  injurious.  Should  it  be  thought  by  any, 
that  the  verbal  instructions,  said  to  have  been  given  by 
Commodore  Barren  to  Mr.  Eaton,  amount  to  a  stipulation 
that  the  United  States  should  place  Hamet  Caramalli  on 
the  throne  of  Tripoli,  a  stipulation  so  entirely  unautho 
rized,  so  far  beyond  our  views,  and  so  onerous,  could  not 
be  sanctioned  by  our  government;  or  should  Hamet  Ca 
ramalli,  contrary  to  the  evidence  of  his  letters  of  January 
3d  and  June  29th,  be  thought  to  have  left  the  position 
which  he  now  seems  to  regret,  under  a  mistaken  expecta 
tion  that  we  were  at  all  events  to  place  him  on  his  throne, 
on  an  appeal  to  the  liberality  of  the  nation,  something 
equivalent  to  the  replacing  him  in  his  former  situation 
might  be  worthy  its  consideration. 

A  nation,  by  establishing  a  character  of  liberality  and 
magnanimity,  gains  in  the  friendship  and  respect  of  others 
more  than  the  worth  of  mere  money.  This  appeal  is 
now  made  by  Hamet  Caramalli  to  the  United  States. 
The  ground  he  has  taken  being  different,  not  only  from 
our  views,  but  from  those  expressed  by  himself  on  former 
occasions,  Mr.  Eaton  was  desired  to  state  whether  any 
verbal  communications  passed  from  him  to  Hamet,  which 
had  varied  from  what  we  saw  in  writing.  His  answer  of 
December  5th  is  herewith  transmitted,  and  has  rendered 
it  still  more  necessary  that,  in  presenting  to  the  legisla 
ture  the  application  of  Hamet,  I  should  present  them  at 
the  same  time  an  exact  statement  of  the  views  and  pro- 


166  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ceedings  of  the  executive  through  this  whole  business, 
that  they  may  clearly  understand  the  ground  on  which 
we  are  placed.  It  is  accompanied  by  all  the  papers 
which  bear  any  relation  to  the  principles  of  the  co-operar 
tion,  and  which  can  inform  their  judgment  in  deciding 
on  the  application  of  Hamet  Caramalli. 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE, 

JANUARY  17,  1806. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

In  my  message  to  both  houses  of  Congress  at  the  open 
ing  of  their  present  session,  I  submitted  to  their  attention, 
among  other  subjects,  the  oppression  of  our  commerce 
and  navigation  by  the  irregular  practices  of  armed  vessels, 
public  and  private,  and  by  the  introduction  of  new  prin 
ciples,  derogatory  of  the  rights  of  neutrals,  and  unac 
knowledged  by  the  usage  of  nations. 

The  memorials  of  several  bodies  of  merchants  of  the 
United  States  are  now  communicated,  and  will  develop 
these  principles  and  practices,  which  are  producing  the 
most  ruinous  effects  on  our  lawful  commerce  and  navi 
gation. 

The  right  of  a  neutral  to  carry  on  a  commercial  inter 
course  with  every  part  of  the  dominions  of  a  belligerent, 
permitted  by  the  laws  of  the  country,  (with  the  exception 
of  blockaded  ports  and  contraband  of  war,)  was  believed 
to  have  been  decided  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  by  the  sentence  of  the  commissioners  mu 
tually  appointed  to  decide  on  that  and  other  questions  of 
difference  between  the  two  nations,  and  by  the  actual 
payment  of  damages  awarded  by  them  against  Great  Bri 
tain  for  the  infractions  of  that  right.  When,  therefore, 
it  was  perceived,  that  the  same  principle  was  revived, 
with  others  more  novel,  and  extending  the  injury,  instruc 
tions  were  given  to  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE.  167 

United  States  at  the  court  of  London,  and  remonstrances 
duly  made  by  him  on  this  subject,  as  will  appear  by  docu 
ments  transmitted  herewith.  These  were  followed  by  a 
partial  and  temporary  suspension  only,  without  any  dis 
avowal  of  the  principle.  He  has,  therefore,  been  in 
structed  to  urge  this  subject  anew,  to  bring  it  more  fully 
to  the  bar  of  reason,  and  to  insist  on  rights  too  evident 
and  too  important  to  be  surrendered.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  evil  is  proceeding  under  adjudications  founded  on 
the  principle  which  is  denied.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  the  subject  presents  itself  for  the  consideration 
of  Congress. 

On  the  impressment  of  our  seamen,  our  remonstrances 
have  never  been  intermitted.  A  hope  existed  at  one  mo 
ment  of  an  arrangement  which  might  have  been  submit 
ted  to;  but  it  soon  passed  away,  and  the  practice,  though 
relaxed  at  times  in  the  distant  seas,  has  been  constantly 
pursued  in  those  in  our  neighborhood.  The  grounds  on 
which  the  reclamations  on  this  subject  have  been  urged, 
will  appear  in  an  extract  from  instructions  to  our  minis 
ter  at  London,  now  communicated. 


SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 

MARCH  20,   1806. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States  : 

It  was  reasonably  expected  that,  while  the  limits  be 
tween  the  territories  of  the  United  States  and  those  of 
Spain  were  unsettled,  neither  party  would  have  innovated 
on  the  existing  state  of  their  respective  positions.  Some 
time  since,  however,  we  learnt  that  the  Spanish  authori 
ties  were  advancing  into  the  disputed  country  to  occupy 
new  posts  and  make  new  settlements.  Unwilling  to  take 
any  measures  which  might  preclude  a  peaceable  accom 
modation  of  differences,  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
were  ordered  to  confine  themselves  within  tlie  country  on 


168  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

this  side  of  the  Sabine  River,  which,  by  delivery  of  its 
principal  post,  Natchitoches,  was  understood  to  have  been 
itself  delivered  up  by  Spain  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
permit  no  adverse  post  to  be  taken,  nor  armed  men  to 
remain  within  it.  In  consequence  of  these  orders,  the 
commanding  officer  at  Natchitoches,  learning  that  a  party 
of  Spanish  troops  had  crossed  the  Sabine  River,  and 
were  posting  themselves  on  this  side  the  Adais,  sent  a 
detachment  of  his  force  to  require  them  to  withdraw  to 
the  other  side  of  the  Sabine,  which  they  accordingly  did. 
I  have  thought  it  proper  to  communicate  to  Congress 
the  letter  detailing  this  incident,  that  they  may  fully  un 
derstand  the  state  of  things  in  that  quarter,  and  be  enabled 
to  make  such  provision  for  its  security  as  in  their  wisdom- 
they  shall  deem  sufficient. 


SIXTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER   2,    1806. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States  : 

It  would  have  given  me,  fellow-citizens,  great  satisfac 
tion  to  announce,  in  the  moment  of  your  meeting,  that 
the  difficulties  in  our  foreign  relations,  existing  at  the 
time  of  your  last  separation,  had  been  amicably  and  justly 
terminated.  I  lost  no  time  in  taking  those  measures 
which  were  most  likely  to  bring  them  to  such  a  termina 
tion,  by  special  missions,  charged  with  such  powers  and 
instructions  as,  in  the  event  of  failure,  could  leave  no 
imputation  on  either  our  moderation  or  forbearance.  The 
delays  which  have  since  taken  place  in  our  negotiations 
with  the  British  government  appear  to  have  proceeded 
from  causes  which  do  not  forbid  the  expectation  that, 
during  the  course  of  the  session,  I  may  be  enabled  to  lay 
before  you  their  final  issue.  What  will  be  that  of  the 
negotiations  for  settling  our  differences  with  Spain,  no 
thing  which  had  taken  place  at  the  date  of  the  last  de- 


SIXTH   ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  169 

spatches  enable  us  to  pronounce.  On  the  western  side 
of  the  Mississippi  she  advanced  in  considerable  force, 
and  took  post  at  the  settlement  of  Bayou  Pierre,  on  the 
Red  River.  This  village  was  originally  settled  by  France, 
was  held  by  her  as  long  as  she  held  Louisiana,  and  was 
delivered  to  Spain  only  as  a  part  of  Louisiana.  Being 
small,  insulated,  and  distant,  it  was  not  observed,  at  the 
moment  of  re-delivery  to  France  and  the  United  States,  that 
she  continued  a  guard  of  half  a  dozen  men.  A  proposi 
tion  had  been  lately  made  by  our  commander-in-chief  to 
assume  the  Sabine  River  as  a  temporary  line  of  separa 
tion  between  the  troops  of  the  two  nations,  until  the  issue 
of  our  negotiations  shall  be  known ;  this  has  been  refer 
red  by  the  Spanish  commandant  to  his  superior,  and  in 
the  mean  time  he  has  withdrawn  his  force  to  the  western 
side  of  the  Sabine  River.  The  correspondence  on  this 
subject,  now  communicated,  will  exhibit  more  particu 
larly  the  present  state  of  things  in  that  quarter. 

The  nature  of  that  country  requires  indispensably  that 
an  unusual  proportion  of  the  force  employed  there  should 
be  cavalry  or  mounted  infantry.  In  order,  therefore,  that 
the  commanding  officer  might  be  enabled  to  act  with  effect, 
I  had  authorized  him  to  call  on  the  governors  of  Orleans 
and  Mississippi  for  a  corps  of  five  hundred  volunteer  caval 
ry.  The  temporary  arrangement  he  has  proposed  may  per 
haps  render  this  unnecessary.  But  I  inform  you  with  great 
pleasure  of  the  promptitude  with  which  the  inhabitants 
of  those  territories  have  tendered  their  services  in  defence 
of  their  country.  It  has  done  honor  to  themselves,  enti 
tled  them  to  the  confidence  of  their  fellow-citizens  in 
every  part  of  the  Union,  and  must  strengthen  the  general 
determination  to  protect  them  efficaciously  under  all  cir 
cumstances  which  may  occur. 

Having  received  information  that  in  another  part  of 
the  United  States  a  great  number  of  private  individuals 
were  combining  together,  arming  and  organizing  them 
selves  contrary  to  law,  to  carry  on  military  expeditions 
against  the  territories  of  Spain,  I  thought  it  necessary, 
by  proclamation  as  well  as  by  special  orders,  to  take  mea 
sures  for  preventing  and  suppressing  this  enterprise,  for 
seizing  the  vessels,  arms,  and  other  means  provided  for 

VOL.    II.  15 


170  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

it,  and  for  arresting  and  bringing  to  justice  its  authors 
and  abettors.  It  was  due  to  that  good  faith  which  ought 
ever  to  be  the  rule  of  action  in  public  as  well  as  in  pri 
vate  transactions  ;  it  was  due  to  good  order  and  regular 
government,  that,  while  the  public  force  was  acting  strictly 
on  the  defensive,  and  merely  to  protect  our  citizens  from 
aggression,  the  criminal  attempts  of  private  individuals 
to  decide  for  their  country  the  question  of  peace  or  war, 
by  commencing  active  and  unauthorized  hostilities,  should 
be  promptly  and  efficaciously  suppressed. 

Whether  it  will  be  necessary  to  enlarge  our  regular 
force  will  depend  on  the  result  of  our  negotiation  with 
Spain :  but  as  it  is  uncertain  when  that  result  will  be 
known,  the  provisional  measures  requisite  for  that,  and 
to  meet  any  pressure  intervening  in  that  quarter,  will  be 
a  subject  for  your  early  consideration. 

The  possession  of  both  banks  of  the  Mississippi  redu 
cing  to  a  single  point  the  defence  of  that  river,  its 
waters,  and  the  country  adjacent,  it  becomes  highly  ne 
cessary  to  provide  for  that  point  a  more  adequate  security. 
Some  position  above  its  mouth,  commanding  the  passage 
of  the  river,  should  be  rendered  sufficiently  strong  to 
cover  the  armed  vessels  which  may  be  stationed  there  for 
defence ;  and,  in  conjunction  with  them,  to  present  an 
insuperable  obstacle  to  any  force  attempting  to  pass. 
The  approaches  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  from  the 
eastern  quarter  also,  will  require  to  be  examined,  and 
more  effectually  guarded.  For  the  internal  support  of 
the  country,  the  encouragement  of  a  strong  settlement 
on  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi,  within  reach  of 
New  Orleans,  will  be  worthy  the  consideration  of  the 
legislature. 

The  gun-boats  authorized  by  an  act  of  the  last  session 
are  so  advanced  that  that  they  will  be  ready  for  service 
in  the  ensuing  spring.  Circumstances  permitted  us  to 
allow  the  time  necessary  for  their  more  solid  construc 
tion.  As  a  much  larger  number  will  still  be  wanting  to 
place  our  seaport  towns  and  waters  in  that  state  of  de 
fence  to  which  we  are  competent  and  they  entitled,  a 
similar  appropriation  for  a  further  provision  for  them  is 
recommended  for  the  ensuing  year. 


SIXTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  171 

A  further  appropriation  will  also  be  necessary  for  re 
pairing  fortifications  already  established,  and  the  erection 
of  such  works  as  may  have  real  effect  in  obstructing  the 
approach  of  an  enemy  to  our  seaport  towns,  or  their 
remaining  before  them. 

In  a  country  whose  constitution  is  derived  from  the 
will  of  the  people,  directly  expressed  by  their  free  suf 
frages  ;  where  the  principal  executive  functionaries,  and 
those  of  the  legislature,  are  renewed  by  them  at  short  pe 
riods;  where  under  the  character  of  jurors  they  exercise 
in  person  the  greatest  portion  of  the  judiciary  powers ; 
where  the  laws  are  consequently  so  formed  and  adminis 
tered  as  to  bear  with  equal  weight  and  favor  on  all,  re 
straining  no  man  in  the  pursuits  of  honest  industry,  and 
securing  to  every  one  the  property  which  that  acquires  ; 
it  would  not  be  supposed  that  any  safeguards  could  be 
needed  against  insurrection,  or  enterprise  on  the  public 
peace  or  authority.  The  laws,  however,  aware  that 
these  should  not  be  trusted  to  moral  restraints  only,  have 
wisely  provided  punishment  for  these  crimes  when  com 
mitted.  But  would  it  not  be  salutary  to  give  also  the 
means  of  preventing  their  commission?  Where  an  en 
terprise  is  meditated  by  private  individuals  against  a  for 
eign  nation  in  amity  with  the  United  States,  powers  of 
prevention  to  a  certain  extent  are  given  by  the  laws ; 
would  they  not  be  as  reasonable  and  useful  where  the 
enterprise  preparing  is  against  the  United  States  ?  While 
adverting  to  this  branch  of  the  law,  it  is  proper  to  ob 
serve,  that  in  enterprises  meditated  against  foreign  na 
tions,  the  ordinary  process  of  binding  to  the  observance 
of  the  peace  and  good  behavior,  could  it  be  extended  to 
acts  to  be  done  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States,  would  be  effectual  in  some  cases  where  the  offen 
der  is  able  to  keep  out  of  sight  every  indication  of  his 
purpose  which  could  draw  on  him  the  exercise  of  the 
powers  now  given  by  law. 

The  states  on  the  coast  of  Barbary  seem  generally  dis 
posed  at  present  to  respect  our  peace  and  friendship  ;  with 
Tunis  alone  some  uncertainty  remains.  Persuaded  that  it 
is  our  interest  to  maintain  our  peace  with  them  on  equal 
terms,  or  not  at  all,  I  propose  to  send,  in  due  time,  a 


172  THE    TRUE    A1VTERICAN. 

reinforcement  into  the  Mediterranean,  unless  previous 
information  shall  show  it  to  be  unnecessary. 

We  continue  to  receive  proofs  of  the  growing  attach 
ment  of  our  Indian  neighbors,  and  of  their  disposition 
to  place  all  their  interests  under  the  patronage  of  the 
United  States.  These  dispositions  are  inspired  by  their 
confidence  in  our  justice,  and  in  the  sincere  concern  we 
feel  for  their  welfare.  And  as  long  as  we  discharge  these 
high  and  honorable  functions  with  the  integrity  and  good 
faith  which  alone  can  entitle  us  to  their  continuance,  we 
may  expect  to  reap  the  just  reward  in  their  peace  and 
friendship. 

The  expedition  of  Messrs.  Lewis  and  Clarke,  for  ex 
ploring  the  river  Missouri,  and  the  best  communication 
from  that  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  has  had  all  the  success 
which  could  have  been  expected.  They  have  traced  the 
Missouri  nearly  to  its  source,  descended  the  Columbia  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  ascertained  with  accuracy  the  geogra 
phy  of  that  interesting  communication  across  our  conti 
nent,  learnt  the  character  of  the  country,  of  its  com 
merce  and  inhabitants  ;  and  it  is  but  justice  to  say,  that 
Messrs.  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  their  brave  companions, 
have,  by  this  arduous  service,  deserved  well  of  their 
country. 

The  attempt  to  explore  the  Red  River,  under  the  di 
rection  of  Mr.  Freeman,  though  conducted  with  a  zeal 
and  prudence  meriting  entire  approbation,  has  not  been 
equally  successful.  After  proceeding  up  it  about  six 
hundred  miles,  nearly  as  far  as  the  French  settlements 
had  extended,  while  the  country  was  in  their  possession, 
our  geographers  were  obliged  to  return  without  comple 
ting  their  work. 

Very  useful  additions  have  also  been  made  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  Mississippi,  by  Lieut.  Pike,  who  has 
ascended  it  to  its  source,  and  whose  journal  and  map, 
giving  the  details  of  his  journey,  will  shortly  be  ready  for 
communication  to  both  houses  of  Congress.  Those  of 
Messrs.  Lewis  and  Clarke  and  Freeman,  will  require  fur 
ther  time  to  be  digested  and  prepared.  These  important 
surveys,  in  addition  to  those  before  possessed,  furnish  ma 
terials  for  commencing  an  accurate  map  of  the  Missis- 


SIXTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  173 

sippi  and  its  western  waters.  Some  principal  rivers, 
however,  remain  still  to  be  explored,  towards  which  the 
authorization  of  Congress,  by  moderate  appropriations, 
will  be  requisite. 

I  congratulate  you,  fellow-citizens,  on  the  approach 
of  the  period  at  which  you  may  interpose  your  authority 
constitutionally,  to  withdraw  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  from  all  further  participation  in  those  violations 
of  human  rights  which  have  been  so  long  continued  on 
the  unoffending  inhabitants  of  Africa,  and  which  the  mo 
rality,  the  reputation,  and  the  best  interests  of  our  coun 
try,  have  long  been  eager  to  proscribe.  Although  no 
law  you  may  pass  can  take  prohibitory  effect  till  the  first 
day  of  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight, 
yet  the  intervening  period  is  not  too  long  to  prevent,  by 
timely  notice,  expeditions  which  cannot  be  completed 
before  that  day. 

The  receipts  at  the  treasury,  during  the  year  ending 
on  the  30th  day  of  September  last,  have  amounted  to 
near  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  ;  which  have  enabled  us, 
after  meeting  the  current  demands,  to  pay  two  millions 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  the  American  claims, 
in  part  of  the  price  of  Louisiana  ;  to  pay  of  the  funded 
debt  upwards  of  three  millions  of  principal,  and  nearly 
four  of  interest ;  and,  in  addition,  to  reimburse,  in  the 
course  of  the  present  month,  near  two  millions  of  five 
and  a  half  per  cent,  stock.  These  payments  and  reim 
bursements  of  the  funded  debt,  with  those  which  had 
been  made  in  the  four  years  and  a  half  preceding,  will, 
at  the  close  of  the  present  year,  have  extinguished  up 
wards  of  twenty-three  millions  of  principal. 

The  duties  composing  the  Mediterranean  fund  will 
cease  by  law  at  the  end  of  the  present  session.  Consider 
ing,  however,  that  they  are  levied  chiefly  on  luxuries,  and 
that  we  have  an  impost  on  salt,  a  necessary  of  life,  the  free 
use  of  which  otherwise  is  so  important,  I  recommend  to 
your  consideration  the  suppression  of  the  duties  on  salt, 
and  the  continuation  of  the  Mediterranean  fund  instead 
thereof,  for  a  short  time,  after  which,  that  also  will  be 
come  unnecessary  for  any  purpose  now  within  contem 
plation. 

VOL.  II.  15* 


174  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

When  both  of  these  branches  of  revenue  shall  in  this 
way  be  relinquished,  there  will  still  ere  long  be  an  accu 
mulation  of  moneys  in  the  treasury  beyond  the  instal 
ments  of  public  debt  which  we  are  permitted  by  contract 
to  pay.  They  cannot,  then,  without  a  modification,  as 
sented  to  by  the  public  creditors,  be  applied  to  the  extin 
guishment  of  this  debt,  and  the  complete  liberation  of 
our  revenues,  the  most  desirable  of  all  objects ;  nor,  if 
our  peace  continues,  will  they  be  wanting  for  any  other 
existing  purpose.  The  question  therefore  now  comes 
forward :  to  what  other  objects  shall  these  surplusses  be 
appropriated,  and  the  whole  surplus  of  impost,  after  the 
entire  discharge  of  the  public  debt,  and  during  those  in 
tervals  when  the  purposes  of  war  shall  not  call  for  them  ? 
Shall  we  suppress  the  impost,  and  give  that  advantage  to 
foreign  over  domestic  manufactures?  On  a  few  articles 
of  more  general  and  necessary  use,  the  suppression,  in 
due  season,  will  doubtless  be  right ;  but  the  great  mass  of 
the  articles  on  which  impost  is  paid  are  foreign  luxuries, 
purchased  by  those  only  who  are  rich  enough  to  afford 
themselves  the  use  of  them.  Their  patriotism  would  cer 
tainly  prefer  its  continuance  and  application  to  the  great 
purposes  of  the  public  education,  roads,  rivers,  canals, 
and  such  other  objects  of  public  improvement  as  it  may 
be  thought  proper  to  add  to  the  constitutional  enumera 
tion  of  federal  powers.  By  these  operations  new  chan 
nels  of  communication  will  be  opened  between  the  states ; 
the  lines  of  separation  will  disappear ;  their  interests  will 
be  identified,  and  their  union  cemented  by  new  and  in 
dissoluble  ties.  Education  is  here  placed  among  the  ar 
ticles  of  public  care,  not  that  it  would  be  proposed  to 
take  its  ordinary  branches  out  of  the  hands  of  private 
enterprise,  which  manages  so  much  better  all  the  con 
cerns  to  which  it  is  equal ;  but  a  public  institution  can 
alone  supply  those  sciences  which,  though  rarely  called  for, 
are  yet  necessary  to  complete  the  circle,  all  the  parts  of 
which  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  the  country,  and 
some  of  them  to  preservation.  The  subject  is  now  pro 
posed  for  the  consideration  of  Congress,  because,  if  ap 
proved  by  the  time  the  state  legislatures  shall  have  deli 
berated  on  this  extension  of  the  federal  trusts,  and  the 


SIXTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  175 

laws  shall  be  passed,  and  other  arrangements  made  for 
their  execution,  the  necessary  funds  will  be  on  hand  and 
without  employment.  I  suppose  an  amendment  to  the 
constitution,  by  consent  of  the  states,  necessary,  because 
the  objects  now  recommended  are  not  among  those  enu 
merated  in  the  constitution,  and  to  which  it  permits  the 
public  moneys  to  be  applied. 

The  present  consideration  of  a  national  establishment, 
for  education  particularly,  is  rendered  proper  by  this  cir 
cumstance  also,  that  if  Congress,  approving  the  proposi 
tion,  shall  yet  think  it  more  eligible  to  found  it  on  a  do 
nation  of  lands,  they  have  it  now  in  their  power  to 
endow  it  with  those  which  will  be  among  the  earliest  to 
produce  the  necessary  income.  This  foundation  would 
Irave  the  advantage  of  being  independent  of  war,  which 
may  suspend  other  improvements,  by  requiring  for  its  own 
purposes  the  resources  destined  for  them. 

This,  fellow-citizens,  is  the  state  of  the  public  interests 
at  the  present  moment,  and  according  to  the  information 
now  possessed.  But  such  is  the  situation  of  the  nations 
of  Europe,  and  such,  too,  the  predicament  in  which  we 
stand  with  some  of  them,  that  we  cannot  rely  with 
certainty  on  the  present  aspect  of  our  affairs,  that  may 
change  from  moment  to  moment  during  the  course  of 
your  session,  or  after  you  shall  have  separated.  Our  duty 
is  therefore  to  act  upon  things  as  they  are,  and  to  make 
a  reasonable  provision  for  whatever  they  may  be.  Were 
armies  to  be  raised  whenever  a  speck  of  war  is  visible  in 
our  horizon,  we  never  should  have  been  without  them. 
Our  resources  would  have  been  exhausted  on  dangers 
which  have  never  happened,  instead  of  being  reserved 
for  what  is  really  to  take  place.  A  steady,  perhaps  a 
quickened  pace,  in  preparations  for  the  defence  of  our 
seaport  towns  and  waters,  an  early  settlement  of  the 
most  exposed  and  vulnerable  parts  of  our  country,  a 
militia  so  organized  that  its  effective  portions  can  be 
called  to  any  point  in  the  Union,  or  volunteers  instead  of 
them,  to  serve  a  sufficient  time,  are  means  which  may 
always  be  ready,  yet  never  preying  on  our  resources  until 
actually  called  into  use.  They  will  maintain  the  public 
interests  while  a  more  permanent  force  shall  be  in  course 


176  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  preparation.  But  much  will  depend  on  the  prompti 
tude  with  which  these  means  can  be  brought  into  activity. 
If  war  be  forced  upon  us,  in  spite  of  our  long  and  vain 
appeals  to  the  justice  of  nations,  rapid  and  vigorous  move 
ments  in  its  outset  will  go  far  toward  securing  us  in  its 
course  and  issue,  and  towards  throwing  its  burdens  on 
those  who  render  necessary  the  resort  from  reason  to  force. 
The  result  of  our  negotiations,  or  such  incidents  in 
their  course  as  may  enable  us  to  infer  their  probable  is 
sues  ;  such  further  movements,  also,  on  our  western  fron 
tiers  as  may  show  whether  war  is  to  be  pressed  there 
while  negotiation  is  protracted  elsewhere,  shall  be  com 
municated  to  you  from  time  to  time  as  they  become 
known  to  me,  with  whatever  other  information  I  possess 
or  may  receive,  which  may  aid  your  deliberations  on  the 
great  national  interests  committed  to  your  charge. 


SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER   3,    1806. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  the  negotia 
tion  depending  between  the  United  States  and  the  govern 
ment  of  Great  Britain,  is  proceeding  in  a  spirit  of  friend 
ship  and  accommodation  which  promises  a  result  of  mutual 
advantage.  Delays  indeed  have  taken  place,  occasioned 
by  the  long  illness  and  subsequent  death  of  the  British 
minister  charged  with  that  duty.  But  the  commissioners 
appointed  by  that  government  to  resume  the  negotiation 
have  shown  every  disposition  to  hasten  its  progress.  It 
is,  however,  a  work  of  time,  as  many  arrangements  are 
necessary  to  place  our  future  harmony  on  stable  grounds. 

In  the  mean  time,  we  find  by  the  communications  of 
our  plenipotentiaries,  that  a  temporary  suspension  of  the 
act  of  the  last  session  prohibiting  certain  importations, 
would,  as  a  mark  of  candid  disposition  on  our  part,  and 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE.  177 

of  confidence  in  the  temper  and  views  with  which  they 
have  been  met,  have  a  happy  effect  on  its  course.  A 
step  so  friendly  will  afford  further  evidence  that  all  our 
proceedings  have  flowed  from  views  of  justice  and  con 
ciliation,  and  that  we  give  them  willingly  that  form  which 
may  best  meet  corresponding  dispositions. 

Add  to  this,  that  the  same  motives  which  produced 
the  postponement  of  the  act  till  the  fifteenth  of  November 
last,  are  in  favor  of  its  further  suspension  ;  and,  as  we 
have  reason  to  hope  that  it  may  soon  yield  to  arrange 
ments  of  mutual  consent  and  convenience,  justice  seems 
to  require  that  the  same  measure  may  be  dealt  out  to  the 
few  cases  which  may  fall  within  its  short  course,  as  to 
all  others  preceding  and  following  it.  I  cannot,  there 
fore,  but  recommend  the  suspension  of  this  act  for  a 
reasonable  time,  on  considerations  of  justice,  amity,  and 
the  public  interests. 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE, 

JANUARY  22,  1807. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

Agreeably  to  the  request  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  communicated  in  their  resolution  of  the  16th 
instant,  I  proceed  to  state,  under  the  reserve  therein 
expressed,  information  received  touching  an  illegal  com 
bination  of  private  individuals  against  the  peace  and 
safety  of  the  Union,  and  a  military  expedition  planned 
by  them  against  the  territories  of  a  power  in  amity  with 
the  United  States,  with  the  measures  I  have  pursued  for 
suppressing  the  same. 

I  had  for  some  time  been  in  the  constant  expectation 
of  receiving  such  further  information  as  would  have 
enabled  me  to  lay  before  the  legislature  the  termination 
as  well  as  the  beginning  and  progress  of  this  scene  of 
depravity,  so  far  as  it  has  been  acted  on  the  Ohio  and  its 


178  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

waters.  From  this,  the  state  of  safety  of  the  lower  coun 
try  might  have  been  estimated  on  probable  grounds  ;  and 
the  delay  was  indulged  the  rather,  because  no  circum 
stance  had  yet  made  it  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of 
the  legislative  functions.  Information,  now  recently 
communicated,  has  brought  us  nearly  to  the  period  con 
templated.  The  mass  of  what  I  have  received  in  the 
course  of  these  transactions,  is  voluminous ;  but  little 
has  been  given  under  the  sanction  of  an  oath,  so  as  to 
constitute  formal  and  legal  evidence.  It  is  chiefly  in  the 
form  of  letters,  often  containing  such  a  mixture  of  ru 
mors,  conjectures,  and  suspicions,  as  render  it  difficult 
to  sift  out  the  real  facts,  and  unadvisable  to  hazard  more 
than  general  outlines,  strengthened  by  concurrent  infor 
mation,  or  the  particular  credibility  of  the  relator.  In 
this  state  of  the  evidence,  delivered  sometimes  too  under 
the  restriction  of  private  confidence,  neither  safety  or 
justice  will  permit  the  exposing  names,  except  that  of 
the  principal  actor,  whose  guilt  is  placed  beyond  ques 
tion. 

Sometime  in  the  latter  part  of  September,  I  received 
intimations  that  designs  were  in  agitation  in  the  western 
country,  unlawful,  and  unfriendly  to  the  peace  of  the 
Union  ;  and  that  the  prime  mover  in  these  was  Aaron 
Burr,  heretofore  distinguished  by  the  favor  of  his  country. 
The  grounds  of  these  intimations  being  inconclusive, 
the  objects  uncertain,  and  the  fidelity  of  that  country 
known  to  be  firm,  the  only  measure  taken  was  to  urge 
the  informants  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  get  further 
insight  into  the  designs  and  proceedings  of  the  suspected 
persons,  and  to  communicate  them  to  me. 

It  was  not  till  the  latter  part  of  October,  that  the  ob 
jects  of  the  conspiracy  began  to  be  perceived ;  but  still 
so  blended  and  involved  in  mystery,  that  nothing  distinct 
could  be  singled  out  for  pursuit.  In  this  state  of  uncer 
tainty,  as  to  the  crime  contemplated,  the  acts  done,  and 
the  legal  course  to  be  pursued,  I  thought  it  best  to  send 
to  the  scene,  where  these  things  were  principally  in  trans 
action,  a  person  in  whose  integrity,  understanding,  and 
discretion,  entire  confidence  could  be  reposed,  with  in 
structions  to  investigate  the  plots  going  on,  to  enter  into 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  179 

conference  (for  which  he  had  sufficient  credentials)  with 
the  governors  and  all  other  officers,  civil  and  military, 
and,  with  their  aid,  to  do  on  the  spot  whatever  should  be 
necessary  to  discover  the  designs  of  the  conspirators, 
arrest  their  means,  hring  their  persons  to  punishment, 
and  to  call  out  the  force  of  the  country  to  suppress  any 
unlawful  enterprise  in  which  it  should  be  found  they  were 
engaged.  By  this  time  it  was  known  that  many  boats 
were  under  preparation,  stores  of  provisions  collecting, 
and  an  unusual  number  of  suspicious  characters  in  motion 
on  the  Ohio  and  its  waters.  Besides  despatching  the 
confidential  agent  to  that  quarter,  orders  were  at  the 
same  time  sent  to  the  governors  of  the  Orleans  and 
Mississippi  territories,  and  to  the  commanders  of  the 
land  and  naval  forces  there,  to  be  on  their  guard  against 
surprise,  and  in  constant  readiness  to  resist  any  enter 
prise  which  might  be  attempted  on  the  vessels,  posts,  or 
other  objects  under  their  care ;  and  on  the  8th  of  No 
vember,  instructions  were  forwarded  to  General  Wilkin 
son  to  hasten  an  accommodation  with  the  Spanish  com 
mander  on  the  Sabine,  and  as  soon  as  that  was  effected, 
to  fall  back  with  his  principal  force  to  the  hither  bank 
of  the  Mississippi,  for  the  defence  of  the  intersecting 
points  on  that  river.  By  a  letter  received  from  that 
officer  on  the  25th  of  November,  but  dated  October  21st, 
we  learn  that  a  confidential  agent  of  Aaron  Burr  had 
been  deputed  to  him  with  communications,  partly  written 
in  cipher  and  partly  oral,  explaining  his  designs,  exag 
gerating  his  resources,  and  making  such  offers  of  emolu 
ment  and  command,  to  engage  him  and  the  army  in  his 
unlawful  enterprise,  as  he  had  flattered  himself  would  be 
successful.  The  general,  with  the  honor  of  a  soldier 
and  fidelity  of  a  good  citizen,  immediately  despatched  a 
trusty  officer  to  me,  with  information  of  what  had  passed, 
proceeding  to  establish  such  an  understanding  with  the 
Spanish  commandant  on  the  Sabine  as  permitted  him  to 
withdraw  his  force  across  the  Mississippi,  and  to  enter 
on  measures  for  opposing  the  projected  enterprise. 

The  general's  letter,  which  came  to  hand  on  the  25th 
of  November,  as  has  been  mentioned,  and  some  other 
information  received  a  few  days  earlier,  when  brought 


180  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

together,  developed  Burr's  general  designs,  different  parts 
of  which  only  had  been  revealed  to  different  informants. 
It  appeared  that  he  contemplated  two  distinct  objects, 
which  might  be  carried  on  either  jointly  or  separately, 
and  either  the  one  or  the  other  first,  as  circumstances 
should  direct.  One  of  these  was  the  severance  of  the 
union  of  these  states  by  the  Allegany  mountains;  the 
other,  an  attack  on  Mexico.  A  third  object  was  provided, 
merely  ostensible,  to  wit :  the  settlement  of  a  pretended 
purchase  of  a  tract  of  country  on  the  Washita,  claimed 
by  a  Baron  Bastrop.  This  was  to  serve  as  a  pretext  for 
all  his  preparations,  an  allurement  for  such  followers  as 
really  wished  to  acquire  settlements  in  that  country,  and 
a  cover  under  which  to  retreat  in  the  event  of  final  dis 
comfiture  of  both  branches  of  his  real  design. 

He  found  at  once  that  the  attachment  of  the  western 
country  to  the  present  Union  was  not  to  be  shaken  ;  that 
its  dissolution  could  not  be  effected  with  the  consent  of 
its  inhabitants,  and  that  his  resources  were  inadequate, 
as  yet,  to  effect  it  by  force.  He  took  his  course  then  at 
once,  determined  to  seize  on  New  Orleans,  plunder  the 
bank  there,  possess  himself  of  the  military  and  naval 
stores,  and  proceed  on  his  expedition  to  Mexico  ;  and  to 
this  object  all  his  means  and  preparations  were  now  di 
rected.  He  collected  from  all  the  quarters  where  himself 
or  his  agents  possessed  influence,  all  the  ardent,  restless, 
desperate,  and  disaffected  persons,  who  were  ready  for 
any  enterprise  analogous  to  their  characters.  He  seduced 
good  and  well-meaning  citizens,  some  by  assurances  that 
he  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  government,  and  was 
acting  under  its  secret  patronage — a  pretence  which  pro 
cured  some  credit  from  the  state  of  our  differences  with 
Spain — and  others,  by  offers  of  land  in  Bastrop's  claim 
on  the  Washita. 

This  was  the  state  of  my  information  of  his  proceed 
ings  about  the  last  of  November,  at  which  time,  there 
fore,  it  was  first  possible  to  take  specific  measures  to  meet 
them.  The  proclamation  of  November  27th,  two  days 
after  the  receipt  of  General  Wilkinson's  information, 
was  now  issued.  Orders  were  despatched  to  every  in 
tersecting  point  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  from  Pitts- 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE.  181 

burg  to  New  Orleans,  for  the  employment  of  such  force, 
either  of  the  regulars  or  of  the  militia,  and  of  such  pro 
ceedings,  also,  of  the  civil  authorities,  as  might  enable 
them  to  seize  on  all  the  boats  and  stores  provided  for  the 
enterprise,  to  arrest  the  persons  concerned,  and  to  sup 
press,  effectually,  the  further  progress  of  the  enterprise. 
A  little  before  the  receipt  of  these  orders  in  the  state  of 
Ohio,  our  confidential  agent,  who  had  been  diligently 
employed  in  investigating  the  conspiracy,  had  acquired 
sufficient  information  to  open  himself  to  the  governor  of 
that  state,  and  apply  for  the  immediate  exertion  of  the 
authority  and  power  of  the  state  to  crush  the  combina 
tion.  Governor  Tiffin,  and  the  legislature,  with  a  promp 
titude,  and  energy,  and  patriotic  zeal,  which  entitle  them 
to  a  distinguished  place  in  the  affection  of  their  sister 
states,  effected  the  seizure  of  all  the  boats,  provisions, 
and  other  preparations  within  their  reach,  and  thus  gave 
a  first  blow,  materially  disabling  the  enterprise  in  its 
outset. 

In  Kentucky,  a  premature  attempt  to  bring  Burr  to 
justice,  without  sufficient  evidence  for  his  conviction,  had 
produced  a  popular  impression  in  his  favor,  and  a  gene 
ral  disbelief  of  his  guilt.  This  gave  him  an  unfortunate 
opportunity  of  hastening  his  equipments.  The  arrival 
of  the  proclamation  and  orders,  and  the  application  and 
information  of  our  confidential  agent,  at  length  awakened 
the  authorities  of  that  state  to  the  truth,  and  then  pro 
duced  the  same  promptitude  and  energy  of  which  the 
neighboring  state  had  set  the  example.  Under  an  act  of 
their  legislature,  of  December  23d,  militia  was  instantly 
ordered  to  different  important  points,  and  measures  taken 
for  doing  whatever  could  yet  be  done.  Some  boats 
(accounts  vary  from  five  to  double  or  treble  that  number) 
and  persons  (differently  estimated  from  one  to  three  hun 
dred)  had,  in  the  mean  time,  passed  the  Falls  of  Ohio,  to 
rendezvous  at  the  mouth  of  Cumberland,  with  others  ex 
pected  down  that  river. 

Not  apprised,  till  very  late,  that  any  boats  were  build 
ing  on  Cumberland,  the  effect  of  the  proclamation  had 
been  trusted  to  for  some  time  in  the  state  of  Tennessee. 
But  on  the  19th  of  December  similar  communications  and 

VOL.  II.  16 


182  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

instructions,  with  those  to  the  neighboring  states,  were 
despatched  by  express  to  the  governor  and  a  general  offi 
cer  of  the  western  division  of  the  state ;  and,  on  the  23d 
of  December,  our  confidential  agent  left  Frankfort  for 
Nashville,  to  put  into  activity  the  means  of  that  state  also. 

But  by  information  received  yesterday,  I  learn  that  on 
the  22d  of  December,  Mr.  Burr  descended  the  Cumber 
land  with  two  boats  merely  of  accommodation,  carrying 
with  him  from  that  state  no  quota  towards  his  unlawful 
enterprise.  Whether,  after  the  arrival  of  the  proclama 
tion,  of  the  orders,  or  of  our  agent,  any  exertion  which 
could  be  made  by  that  state,  or  the  orders  of  the  govern 
or  of  Kentucky  for  calling  out  the  militia  at  the  mouth 
of  Cumberland,  would  be  in  time  to  arrest  these  boats, 
and  those  from  the  Falls  of  Ohio,  is  still  doubtful. 

On  the  whole,  the  fugitives  from  the  Qhio,  with  their 
associates  from  Cumberland,  or  any  other  place  in  that 
quarter,  cannot  threaten  serious  danger  to  the  city  of 
New  Orleans. 

By  the  same  express  of  December  19th,  orders  were 
sent  to  the  governors  of  Orleans  and  Mississippi,  supple 
mentary  to  those  which  had  been  given  on  the  25th  of 
November,  to  hold  the  militia  of  their  territories  in  rea 
diness  to  co-operate,  for  their  defence,  with  the  regular 
troops  and  armed  vessels,  then  under  command  of  Gene 
ral  Wilkinson.  Great  alarm  indeed  was  excited  at  New 
Orleans  by  the  exaggerated  accounts  of  Mr.  Burr,  dis 
seminated  through  his  emissaries,  of  the  armies  and 
navies  he  was  to  assemble  there.  General  Wilkinson 
had  arrived  there  himself  on  the  24th  of  November,  and 
had  immediately  put  into  activity  the  resources  of  the 
place  for  the  purpose  of  its  defence ;  and  on  the  10th  of 
December  he  was  joined  by  his  troops  from  the  Sabine. 
Great  zeal  was  shown  by  the  inhabitants  generally  ;  the 
merchants  of  the  place  readily  agreeing  to  the  most  lau 
dable  exertions  and  sacrifices  for  manning  the  armed 
vessels  with  their  seamen ;  and  the  other  citizens  mani 
festing  unequivocal  fidelity  to  the  Union,  and  a  spirit  of 
determined  resistance  to  their  expected  assailants. 

Surmises  have  been  hazarded  that  this  enterprise  is  to 
receive  aid  from  certain  foreign  powers.  But  these  sur- 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  183 

mises  are  without  proof  or  probability.  The  wisdom  of 
the  measures  sanctioned  by  Congress  at  its  last  session, 
has  placed  us  in  the  paths  of  peace  and  justice  with  the 
only  powers  with  whom  we  had  any  differences  ;  and  no 
thing  has  happened  since  which  makes  it  either  their 
interest  or  ours  to  pursue  another  course.  No  change 
of  measures  has  taken  place  on  our  part;  none  ought  to 
take  place  at  this  time.  With  the  one,  friendly  arrange 
ment  was  then  proposed,  and  the  law  deemed  necessary 
on  the  failure  of  that,  was  suspended  to  give  time  for  a 
fair  trial  of  the  issue.  With  the  other,  negotiation  was 
in  like  manner  then  preferred,  and  provisional  measures 
only  taken  to  meet  the  event  of  rupture.  While,  there 
fore,  we  do  not  deflect  in  the  slightest  degree  from  the 
course  we  then  assumed,  and  are  still  pursuing,  with  mu 
tual  consent,  to  restore  a  good  understanding,  we  are  not 
to  impute  to  them  practices  as  irreconcilable  to  interest 
as  to  good  faith,  and  changing  necessarily  the  relations 
of  peace  and  justice  between  us  to  those  of  war.  These 
surmises  are  therefore  to  be  imputed  to  the  vauntings  of 
the  author  of  this  enterprise,  to  multiply  his  partisans  by 
magnifying  the  belief  of  his  prospects  and  support. 

By  letters  from  General  Wilkinson,  of  the  14th  and 
18th  of  September,  which  came  to  hand  two  days  after 
date  of  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
that  is  to  say,  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  instant,  I  re 
ceived  the  important  affidavit,  a  copy  of  which  I  now 
communicate,  with  extracts  of  so  much  of  the  letters  as 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  resolution.  By  these  it 
will  be  seen  that  of  the  three  of  the  principal  emissaries 
of  Mr.  Burr,  whom  the  general  had  caused  to  be  appre 
hended,  one  had  been  liberated  by  habeas  corpus,  and 
two  others,  being  those  particularly  employed  in  the  en 
deavor  to  corrupt  the  general  and  army  of  the  United 
States,  have  been  embarked  by  him  for  our  ports  in 
the  Atlantic  states,  probably  on  the  consideration  that 
an  impartial  trial  could  not  be  expected  during  the  pre 
sent  agitations  of  New  Orleans,  and  that  city  was  not  as 
yet  a  safe  place  of  confinement.  As  soon  as  these  per 
sons  shall  arrive,  they  will  be  delivered  to  the  custody  of 
the  law,  and  left  to  such  course  of  trial,  both  as  to  place 


184  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

and  process,  as  its  functionaries  may  direct.  The  pre 
sence  of  the  highest  judicial  authorities  to  be  assembled 
at  this  place  within  a  few  days,  the  means  of  pursuing  a 
sounder  course  of  proceedings  here  than  elsewhere,  and 
the  aid  of  the  executive  means,  should  the  judges  have 
occasion  to  use  them,  render  it  equally  desirable,  for  the 
criminals  as  for  the  public,  that,  being  already  removed 
from  the  place  where  they  were  first  apprehended,  the 
first  regular  arrest  should  take  place  here,  and  the  course 
of  proceedings  receive  here  their  proper  direction. 

•»*••«- 

SPECIAL   MESSAGE, 

FEBRUARY    10,    1807. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  Slates  : 

In  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  expressed  in  their  resolution  of  the  5th  instant, 
I  proceed  to  give  such  information  as  is  possessed,  of" the 
effect  of  gun-boats  in  the  protection  and  defence  of  har 
bors,  of  the  numbers  thought  necessary,  and  of  the  pro 
posed  distribution  of  them  among  the  ports  and  harbors 
of  the  United  States. 

Under  present  circumstances,  and  governed  by  the 
intentions  of  the  legislature,  as  manifested  by  their  an 
nual  appropriations  of  money  for  the  purposes  of  defence, 
it  has  been  concluded  to  combine — 1st,  Land  batteries, 
furnished  with  heavy  cannon  and  mortars,  and  established 
on  all  the  points  around  the  place  favorable  for  prevent 
ing  vessels  from  lying  before  it;  2d,  Movable  artillery, 
which  may  be  carried,  as  occasion  may  require,  to  points 
unprovided  with  fixed  batteries;  3d,  Floating  batteries; 
and,  4th,  Gun-boats,  which  may  oppose  an  enemy  at  its 
entrance,  and  co-operate  with  the  batteries  for  his  ex 
pulsion. 

On  this  subject  professional  men  were  consulted  as  far 
as  we  had  opportunity.  Gen.  Wilkinson  and  the  late 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE.  185 

Gen.  Gates  gave  their  opinions  in  writing  in  favor  of  the 
system,  as  will  be  seen  by  their  letters  now  communica 
ted.  The  higher  officers  of  the  navy  gave  the  same  opin 
ions,  in  separate  conferences,  as  their  presence  at  the 
seat  of  government  offered  occasions  of  consulting  them, 
and  no  difference  of  judgment  appeared  on  the  subject. 
Those  of  Commodore  Barron  and  Captain  Tingey,  now 
here,  are  recently  furnished  in  writing,  and  transmitted 
herewith  to  the  legislature. 

The  efficacy  of  gun-boats  for  the  defence  of  harbors, 
and  of  other  smooth  and  enclosed  waters,  may  be  esti 
mated  in  part  from  that  of  galleys,  formerly  much  used, 
but  less  powerful,  more  costly  in  their  construction  and 
maintenance,  and  requiring  more  men.  But  the  gun-boat 
itself  is  believed  to  be  in  use  with  every  modern  mari 
time  nation  for  the  purpose  of  defence.  In  the  Mediter 
ranean,  on  which  are  several  small  powers,  whose  system, 
like  ours,  is  peace  and  defence,  few  harbors  are  without 
this  article  of  protection.  Our  own  experience  there  of 
the  effect  of  gun-boats  for  harbor-service,  is  recent.  Al 
giers  is  particularly  known  to  have  owed  to  a  great  pro 
vision  of  these  vessels  the  safety  of  its  city,  since  the 
epoch  of  their  construction.  Before  that,  it  had  been 
repeatedly  insulted  and  injured.  The  effect  of  gun-boats 
at  present  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gibraltar,  is  well 
known,  and  how  much  they  were  used  both  in  the  attack 
and  defence  of  that  place  during  a  former  war.  The 
extensive  resort  to  them  by  the  two  greatest  naval  powers 
in  the  world,  on  an  enterprise  of  invasion  not  long  since 
in  prospect,  shows  their  confidence  in  their  efficacy  for 
the  purposes  for  which  they  are  suited.  By  the  northern 
powers  of  Europe,  whose  seas  are  particularly  adapted 
to  them,  they  are  still  more  used.  The  remarkable  ac 
tion  between  the  Russian  flotilla  of  gun-boats  and  galleys, 
and  a  Turkish  fleet  of  ships  of  the  line  and  frigates,  in 
the  Liman  sea,  1788,  will  be  readily  recollected.  The 
latter,  commanded  by  their  most  celebrated  admiral,  were 
completely  defeated,  and  several  of  their  ships  of  the 
line  destroyed. 

From  the  opinions  given  as  to  the  number  of  gun-boats 
necessary  for  some  of  the  principal  seaports,  and  from  a 
VOL.  n.  16* 


186  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

view  of  all  the  towns  and  ports  from  New  Orleans  to 
Maine  inclusive,  entitled  to  protection,  in  proportion  to 
their  situation  and  circumstances,  it  is  concluded  that,  to 
give  them  a  due  measure  of  protection  in  time  of  war, 
about  two  hundred  gun-boats  will  be  requisite.  Accord 
ing  to  first  ideas,  the  following  would  be  their  general 
distribution,  liable  to  be  varied  on  more  mature  examina 
tion,  and  as  circumstances  shall  vary,  that  is  to  say : 

To  the  Mississippi  and  its  neighboring  waters,  forty 
gun-boats. 

To  Savannah  and  Charleston,  and  the  harbors  on  each 
side,  from  St.  Mary's  to  Currituck,  twenty-five. 

To  the  Chesapeake  and  its  waters,  twenty. 

To  Delaware  Bay  and  river,  fifteen. 

To  New  York,  the  Sound,  and  waters  as  far  as  Cape 
Cod,  fifty. 

To  Boston,  and  the  harbors  north  of  Cape  Cod,  fifty. 

The  flotillas  assigned  to  these  several  stations  might 
each  be  under  the  care  of  a  particular  commandant,  and 
the  vessels  composing  them  would,  in  ordinary,  be  distri 
buted  among  the  harbors  within  the  station  in  proportion 
to  their  importance. 

Of  these  boats  a  proper  proportion  would  be  of  the 
larger  size,  such  as  those  heretofore  built,  capable  of 
navigating  any  seas,  and  of  reinforcing  occasionally  the 
strength  of  even  the  most  distant  port  when  menaced 
withx  danger.  The  residue  would  be  confined  to  their 
own  or  their  neighboring  harbors,  would  be  smaller,  less 
furnished  for  accommodation,  arid  consequently  less 
costly.  Of  the  number  supposed  necessary,  seventy-thr 
are  built  or  building,  and  the  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
still  to  be  provided  would  cost  from  six  to  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  Having  regard  to  the  convenience  of 
the  treasury,  as  well  as  to  the  resources  for  building,  it 
has  been  thought  that  the  one  half  of  these  might  be 
built  in  the  present  year,  and  the  other  half  the  next 
With  the  legislature,  however,  it  will  rest  to  stop  where 
we  are,  or  at  any  further  point,  when  they  shall  be  of 
opinion  that  the  number  provided  shall  be  sufficient  for 
the  object. 

At  times,  when  Europe  as  well  as  the  United  States 


SEVENTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  187 

shall  be  at  peace,  it  would  not  be  proposed  that  more 
than  six  or  eight  of  these  vessels  should  be  kept  afloat. 
When  Europe  is  in  war,  treble  that  number  might  be 
necessary  to  be  distributed  among  those  particular  har 
bors  which  foreign  vessels  of  war  are  in  the  habit  of  fre 
quenting,  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  order  therein. 
But  they  would  be  manned  in  ordinary  with  only  their 
complement  for  navigation,  relying  on  the  seamen  and 
militia  of  the  port,  if  called  into  action  on  any  sudden 
emergency.  It  would  be  only  when  the  United  States 
should  themselves  be  at  war,  that  the  whole  number 
would  be  brought  into  actual  service,  and  would  be  ready, 
in  the  first  moments  of  the  war,  to  co-operate  with  other 
means  for  covering  at  once  the  line  of  our  seaports.  At 
all  times,  those  unemployed  would  be  withdrawn  into 
places  not  exposed  to  sudden  enterprise,  hauled  up  under 
sheds  from  the  sun  and  weather,  and  kept  in  preservation 
with  little  expense  for  repairs  or  maintenance. 

It  must  be  superfluous  to  observe,  that  this  species  of 
naval  armament  is  proposed  merely  for  defensive  opera 
tion  ;  that  it  can  have  but  little  effect  towards  protecting 
our  commerce  in  the  open  seas,  even  on  our  coast ;  and 
still  less  can  it  become  an  excitement  to  engage  in  offen 
sive  maritime  war,  towards  which  it  would  furnish  no 
means. 

*****  ®  ^5  ®**  *  * 


SEVENTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

OCTOBER   27,  1807. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States  : 

Circumstances,  fellow-citizens,  which  seriously  threat 
ened  the  peace  of  our  country,  have  made  it  a  duty  to 
convene  you  at  an  earlier  period  than  usual.  The  love 
of  peace,  so  much  cherished  in  the  bosoms  of  our  citi 
zens,  which  has  so  long  guided  the  proceedings  of  the 
public  councils,  and  induced  forbearance  under  so  many 


188  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

wrongs,  may  not  insure  our  continuance  in  the  quiet  pur 
suits  of  industry.  The  many  injuries  and  depredations 
committed  on  our  commerce  and  navigation  upon  the 
high  seas  for  years  past,  the  successive  innovations  on 
those  principles  of  public  law  which  have  been  established 
by  the  reason  and  usage  of  nations  as  the  rule  of  their 
intercourse,  and  the  umpire  and  security  of  their  rights 
and  peace,  and  all  the  circumstances  which  induced  the 
extraordinary  mission  to  London,  are  already  known  to 
you.  The  instructions  given  to  our  ministers  were 
framed  in  the  sincerest  spirit  of  amity  and  moderation. 
They  accordingly  proceeded,  in  conformity  therewith,  to 
propose  arrangements  which  might  bring  us  to  a  mutual 
understanding  on  our  neutral  and  national  rights,  and  pro 
vide  for  a  commercial  intercourse  on  conditions  of  some 
equality.  After  long  and  fruitless  endeavors  to  effect  the 
purposes  of  their  mission,  and  to  obtain  arrangements 
within  the  limits  of  their  instructions,  they  concluded  to 
sign  such  as  could  be  obtained,  and  to  send  them  for  con 
sideration  :  candidly  declaring  to  the  other  negotiators,  at 
the  same  time,  that  they,  were  acting  against  their  instruc 
tions,  and  that  their  government  therefore  could  not  be 
pledged  for  ratification.  Some  of  the  articles  proposed 
might  have  been  admitted  on  a  principle  of  compromise, 
but  others  were  too  highly  disadvantageous  ;  and  no  suffi 
cient  provision  was  made  against  the  principal  source  of 
the  irritations  and  collisions  which  were  constantly  en 
dangering  the  peace  of  the  two  nations.  The  question, 
therefore,  whether  a  treaty  should  be  accepted  in  that 
form  could  have  admitted  but  of  one  decision,  even  had 
no  declarations  of  the  other  party  impaired  our  confidence 
in  it.  Still  anxious  not  to  close  the  door  against  friendly 
adjustment,  new  modifications  were  framed,  and  further 
concessions  authorized,  than  could  before  have  been  sup 
posed  necessary ;  and  our  ministers  were  instructed  to  re 
sume  their  negotiations  on  these  grounds.  On  this  new 
reference  to  amicable  discussion  we  were  reposing  in  con 
fidence,  when,  on  the  22d  day  of  June  last,  by  a  formal 
order  from  a  British  admiral,  the  frigate  Chesapeake, 
leaving  her  port  for  distant  service,  was  attacked  by  one 
of  those  vessels  which  had  been  lying  in  our  harbors  un- 


SEVENTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  189 

der  the  indulgences  of  hospitality,  was  disabled  from  pro 
ceeding,  had  several  of  her  crew  killed,  and  four  taken 
away.  On  this  outrage  no  commentaries  are  necessary. 
Its  character  has  been  pronounced  by  the  indignant  voice 
of  our  citizens  with  an  emphasis  and  unanimity  never  ex 
ceeded.  I  immediately,  by  proclamation,  interdicted  our 
harbors  and  waters  to  all  British  armed  vessels,  forbade 
intercourse  with  them  ;  and  uncertain  how  far  hostilities 
were  intended,  and  the  town  of  Norfolk  indeed  being 
threatened  with  immediate  attack,  a  sufficient  force  was 
ordered  for  the  protection  of  that  place,  and  such  other 
preparations  commenced  and  pursued  as  the  prospect  ren 
dered  proper.  An  armed  vessel  of  the  United  States  was 
despatched  with  instructions  to  our  ministers  at  London 
to  call  on  that  government  for  the  satisfaction  and  securi 
ty  required  by  the  outrage.  A  very  short  interval  ought 
now  to  bring  the  answer,  which  shall  be  communicated  to 
you  as  soon  as  received  ;  then,  also,  or  as  soon  after  ag 
the  public  interests  shall  be  found  to  admit,  the  unratified 
treaty,  and  proceedings  relative  to  it,  shall  be  made  known 
to  you. 

The  aggression  thus  begun  has  been  continued  on  the 
part  of  the  British  commanders,  by  remaining  within  our 
waters  in  defiance  of  the  authority  of  the  country,  by  ha 
bitual  violations  of  its  jurisdiction,  and,  at  length,  by  put 
ting  to  death  one  of  the  persons  whom  they  had  forcibly 
taken  from  on  board  the  Chesapeake.  These  aggrava 
tions  necessarily  lead  to  the  policy  either  of  never  admit 
ting  an  armed  vessel  into  our  harbors,  or  of  maintaining 
in  every  harbor  such  an  armed  force  as  may  constrain 
obedience  to  the  laws,  and  protect  the  lives  and  property 
of  our  citizens  against  their  armed  guests.  But  the  ex 
pense  of  such  a  standing  force,  and  its  inconsistencies 
with  our  principles,  dispense  with  those  courtesies  which 
would  necessarily  call  for  it,  and  leave  us  equally  free  to 
exclude  the  navy  as  we  are  the  army  of  a  foreign  power 
from  entering  our  limits. 

To  former  violations  of  maritime  rights,  another  is  now 
added  of  very  extensive  effect.  The  government  of  that 
nation  has  issued  an  order  interdicting  all  trade  by  neu 
trals  between  ports  not  in  amity  with  them.  And  being 


190  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

now  at  war  with  nearly  every  nation  on  the  Atlantic  and 
Mediterranean  seas,  our  vessels  are  required  to  sacrifice 
their  cargoes  at  the  first  port  they  touch,  or  to  return 
home  without  the  benefit  of  going  to  any  other  market. 
Under  this  new  law  of  the  ocean,  our  trade  on  the  Medi 
terranean  has  been  swept  away  by  seizures  and  condem 
nations,  and  that  in  other  seas  is  threatened  with  the  same 
fate. 

Our  differences  with  Spain  remain  unsettled ;  no  mea 
sure  having  been  taken  on  her  part,  since  my  last  commu 
nication  to  Congress,  to  bring  them  to  a  close.  But  un 
der  a  state  of  things  which  may  favor  reconsideration, 
they  have  been  recently  pressed,  and  an  expectation  is 
entertained  that  they  may  now  soon  be  brought  to  an  is 
sue  of  some  sort.  With  their  subjects  on  our  borders  no 
new  collisions  have  taken  place,  nor  seem  immediately  to 
be  apprehended.  To  our  former  grounds  of  complaint 
has  been  added  a  very  serious  one,  as  you  will  see  by  the 
decree,  a  copy  of  which  is  now  communicated.  Whether 
this  decree,  which  professes  to  be  conformable  to  that  of 
the  French  government  of  November  21,  1806,  hereto 
fore  communicated  to  Congress,  will  also  be  conformed 
to  that  in  its  construction  and  application  in  relation  to 
the  United  States,  had  not  been  ascertained  at  the  date 
of  our  last  communication.  These,  however,  gave  rea 
son  to  expect  such  a  conformity. 

With  the  other  nations  of  Europe  our  harmony  has 
been  uninterrupted,  and  commerce  and  intercourse  have 
been  maintained  on  their  usual  footing. 

Our  peace  with  the  several  states  on  the  coast  of  Bar* 
bary  appears  as  firm  as  at  any  former  period,  and  is  as 
likely  to  continue  as  that  of  any  other  nation. 

Among  our  Indian  neighbors  in  the  north-western 
quarter,  some  fermentation  was  observed  soon  after  the 
late  occurrences,  threatening  the  continuance  of  our 
peace.  Messages  were  said  to  be  interchanged,  and  to 
kens  to  be  passing,  which  usually  denote  a  state  of  rest 
lessness  among  them,  and  the  character  of  the  agitators 
pointed  to  the  sources  of  excitement.  Measures  were 
immediately  taken  for  providing  against  that  danger  ;  in 
structions  were  given  to  require  explanations,  and  with 


SEVENTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  191 

assurances  of  our  continued  friendship,  to  admonish  the 
tribes  to  remain  quiet  at  home,  taking  no  part  in  quarrels 
not  belonging  to  them.  As  far  as  we  are  yet  informed, 
the  tribes  in  our  vicinity,  who  are  most  advanced  in  the 
pursuits  of  industry,  are  sincerely  disposed  to  adhere  to 
their  friendship  with  us,  and  to  their  peace  with  all  others. 
While  those  more  remote  do  not  present  appearances  suf 
ficiently  quiet  to  justify  ihe  intermission  of  military  pre 
caution  on  our  part. 

The  great  tribes  on  the  south-western  quarter,  much 
advanced  beyond  the  others  in  agriculture  and  household 
arts,  appear  tranquil  and  identifying  their  views  with 
ours,  in  proportion  to  their  advancement.  With  the 
whole  of  these  people,  in  every  quarter,  I  shall  continue 
to  inculcate  peace  and  friendship  with  all  their  neighbors, 
and  perseverance  in  those  occupations  and  pursuits  which 
will  best  promote  their  own  well-being. 

The  appropriations  of  the  last  session,  for  the  defence 
of  our  seaport  towns  and  harbors,  were  made  under  ex 
pectation  that  a  continuance  of  our  peace  would  permit 
us  to  proceed  in  that  work  according  to  our  convenience. 
It  has  been  thought  better  to  apply  the  sums  then  given, 
towards  the  defence  of  New  York,  Charleston,  and  New 
Orleans  chiefly,  as  most  open  and  most  likely  first  to 
need  protection  ;  and  to  leave  places  less  immediately  in 
danger  to  the  provisions  of  the  present  session. 

The  gun-boats,  too,  already  provided,  have,  on  a  like 
principle,  been  chiefly  assigned  to  New  York,  New  Or 
leans,  and  the  Chesapeake.  Whether  our  movable  force 
on  the  water,  so  material  in  aid  of  the  defensive  works 
on  the  land,  should  be  augmented  in  this  or  any  other 
form,  is  left  to  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature.  For  the 
purpose  of  manning  these  vessels,  in  sudden  attacks  on 
our  harbors,  it  is  a  matter  for  consideration,  whether  the 
seamen  of  the  United  States  may  not  justly  be  formed 
into  a  special  militia,  to  be  called  on  for  tours  of  duty 
in  defence  of  the  harbors  where  they  shall  happen  to  be ; 
the  ordinary  militia  of  the  place  furnishing  that  portion 
which  may  consist  of  landsmen. 

The  moment  our  peace  was  threatened,  I  deemed  it 
indispensable  to  secure  a  greater  provision  of  those  arti- 


192  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

cles  of  military  stores  with  which  our  magazines  were 
not  sufficiently  furnished.  To  have  awaited  a  previous 
and  special  sanction  by  law  would  have  lost  occasions 
which  might  not  be  retrieved.  I  did  not  hesitate,  there 
fore,  to  authorize  engagements  for  such  supplements  to 
our  existing  stock  as  would  render  it  adequate  to  the 
emergencies  threatening  us  ;  and  I  trust  that  the  legisla 
ture,  feeling  the  same  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  our  coun 
try,  so  materially  advanced  by  this  precaution,  will  ap 
prove  when  done,  what  they  would  have  seen  so  important 
to  be  done,  if  then  assembled.  Expenses,  also  unprovided 
for,  arose  out  of  the  necessity  of  calling  all  our  gun-boats 
into  actual  service  for  the  defence  of  our  harbors;  of  all 
which,  accounts  will  be  laid  before  you. 

Whether  a  regular  army  is  to  be  raised,  and  to  what 
extent,  must  depend  on  the  information  so  shortly  ex 
pected.  In  the  mean  time,  I  have  called  on  the  states 
for  quotas  of  militia,  to  be  in  readiness  for  present  de 
fence  ;  and  have,  moreover,  encouraged  the  acceptance 
of  volunteers  ;  and  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  these 
have  offered  themselves  with  great  alacrity  in  every  part 
of  the  Union.  They  are  ordered  to  be  organized,  and 
ready  at  a  moment's  warning,  to  proceed  on  any  service 
to  which  they  may  be  called,  and  every  preparation  within 
the  executive  powers  has  been  made  to  insure  us  the 
benefit  of  early  exertions. 

I  informed  Congress  at  their  last  session  of  the  enter 
prises  against  the  public  peace,  which  were  believed  to 
be  in  preparation  by  Aaron  Burr  and  his  associates,  of 
the  measures  taken  to  defeat  them,  and  to  bring  the  of 
fenders  to  justice.  Their  enterprises  were  happily  de 
feated  by  the  patriotic  exertions  of  the  militia  whenever 
called  into  action,  by  the  fidelity  of  the  army  and  energy 
of  the  commander-in-chief,  in  promptly  arranging  the 
difficulties  presenting  themselves  on  the  Sabine,  repairing 
to  meet  those  arising  on  the  Mississippi,  and  dissipating 
before  their  explosion  plots  engendering  there.  I  shall 
think  it  my  duty  to  lay  before  you  the  proceedings,  and 
the  evidence  publicly  exhibited  on  the  arraignment  of 
the  principal  offenders  before  the  circuit  court  of  Vir 
ginia.  You  will  be  enabled  to  judge  whether  the  defect 


SEVENTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  193 

was  in  the  testimony,  in  the  law,  or  in  the  administration 
of  the  law,  and  wherever  it  shall  be  found,  the  legislature 
alone  can  apply  or  originate  the  remedy.  The  framers 
of  our  constitution  certainly  supposed  they  had  guarded, 
as  well  their  government  against  destruction  by  treason, 
as  their  citizens  against  oppression,  under  pretence  of  it, 
and  if  these  ends  are  not  attained,  it  is  of  importance  to 
inquire  by  what  means  more  effectually  they  may  be  se 
cured. 

The  accounts  of  the  receipts  of  revenue  during  the 
year  ending  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  September  last, 
being  not  yet  made  up,  a  correct  statement  will  be  here 
after  transmitted  from  the  treasury.  In  the  mean  time, 
it  is  ascertained  that  the  receipts  have  amounted  to  near 
sixteen  millions  of  dollars,  which,  with  the  five  millions 
and  a  half  in  the  treasury  at  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
have  enabled  us,  after  meeting  the  current  demands  and 
interest  incurred,  to  pay  more  than  four  millions  of  the 
principal  of  our  funded  debt.  These  payments,  with 
those  of  the  preceding  five  and  a  half  years,  have  extin 
guished  of  the  funded  debt  twenty-five  millions  and  a 
half  of  dollars,  being  the  whole  which  could  be  paid  or 
purchased  within  the  limits  of  the  law  and  of  our  con 
tracts,  and  have  left  us  in  the  treasury  eight  millions  and 
a  half  of  dollars.  A  portion  of  this  sum  may  be  con 
sidered  as  a  commencement  of  accumulation  of  the  sur- 
plusses  of  revenue,  which,  after  paying  the  instalments 
of  debts  as  they  shall  become  payable,  will  remain  with 
out  any  specific  object.  It  may  partly,  indeed,  be  applied 
towards  completing  the  defence  of  the  exposed  points  of 
our  country  on  such  a  scale  as  shall  be  adapted  to  our 
principles  and  circumstances.  This  object  is  doubtless 
among  the  first  entitled  to  attention,  in  such  a  state  of 
our  finances,  and  it  is  one  which,  whether  we  have  peace 
or  war,  will  provide  security  where  it  is  due.  Whether 
what  shall  remain  of  this,  with  the  future  surplusses, 
may  be  usefully  applied  to  purposes  already  authorized, 
or  more  usefully  to  others  requiring  new  authorities,  or 
how  otherwise  they  shall  be  disposed  of,  are  questions 
calling  for  the  notice  of  Congress,  unless  indeed  they 
shall  be  superseded  by  a  change  in  our  public  relations, 

VOL.  II.  17 


194  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

now  awaiting  the  determination  of  others.  Whatever  be 
that  determination,  it  is  a  great  consolation  that  it  will 
become  known  at  a  moment  when  the  supreme  council 
of  the  nation  is  assembled  at  its  post,  and  ready  to  give 
the  aids  of  its  wisdom  and  authority  to  whatever  course 
the  good  of  our  country  shall  then  call  us  to  pursue. 

Matters  of  minor  importance  will  be  the  subjects  of 
future  communications,  and  nothing  shall  be  wanting  on 
my  part  which  may  give  information  or  despatch  to  the 
proceedings  of  the  legislature  in  the  exercise  of  their 
high  duties,  and  at  a  moment  so  interesting  to  the  public 
welfare. 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE, 

DECEMBER    18,    1807. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

The  communications  now  made,  showing  the  great  and 
increasing  dangers  with  which  our  vessels,  our  seamen, 
and  merchandise,  are  threatened  on  the  high  seas  and 
elsewhere,  from  the  belligerent  powers  of  Europe;  and 
it  being  of  the  greatest  importance  to  keep  in  safety 
these  essential  resources,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  recom 
mend  the  subject  to  the  consideration  of  Congress,  who 
will  doubtless  perceive  all  the  advantages  which  may  be 
expected  from  an  inhibition  of  the  departure  of  our  ves 
sels  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States. 

Their  wisdom  will  also  see  the  necessity  of  making 
every  preparation  for  whatever  events  may  grow  out  of 
the  present  crisis. 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE.  195 

SPECIAL  MESSAGE, 

FEBRUARY    9,  1808. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States  : 

I  communicate  to  Congress  for  their  information,  a 
letter  from  the  person  acting  in  the  absence  of  our  con 
sul  at  Naples,  giving  reason  to  believe,  on  the  affidavit 
of  a  Captain  Sheffield,  of  the  American  schooner  Mary 
Ann,  that  the  dey  of  Algiers  has  commenced  war  against 
the  United  States.  For  this,  no  just  cause  has  been 
given  our  part  within  my  knowledge.  We  may  daily  ex 
pect  more  authentic  and  particular  information  on  the 
subject  from  Mr.  Lear,  who  was  residing  as  our  consul 
at  Algiers. 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE, 

FEBRUARY    8,    1808. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States  : 

The  dangers  to  our  country,  arising  from  the  contests 
of  other  nations,  and  the  urgency  of  making  preparation 
for  whatever  events  might  affect  our  relations  with  them, 
have  been  intimated  in  preceding  messages  to  Congress. 
To  secure  ourselves  by  due  precautions,  an  augmentation 
of  our  military  force,  as  well  regular,  as  of  volunteer 
militia,  seems  to  be  expedient.  The  precise  extent  of 
that  augmentation  cannot  as  yet  be  satisfactorily  suggest 
ed  ;  but  that  no  time  may  be  lost,  and  especially  at  a  sea 
son  deemed  favorable  to  the  object,  I  submit  to  the  wis 
dom  of  the  legislature  whether  they  will  authorize  a 
commencement  of  this  precautionary  work  by  a  provision 
for  raising  and  organizing  some  additional  force,  reserv 
ing  to  themselves  to  decide  its  ultimate  extent  on  such 


196  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

views  of  our  situation  as  I  may  be  enabled  to  present  at 
a  future  day  of  the  session. 

If  an  increase  of  force  be  now  approved,  I  submit  to 
their  consideration  the  outlines  of  a  plan  proposed  in  the 
enclosed  letter  from  the  secretary  of  war. 

I  recommend,  also,  to  the  attention  of  Congress  the 
term  at  which  the  act  of  April  18,  1806,  concerning  the 
militia  will  expire,  and  the  effect  of  that  expiration. 


SPECIAL   MESSAGE 
MARCH  22,  1808. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  : 

At  the  opening  of  the  present  session  I  informed  the 
legislature  that  the  measures  which  had  been  taken  with 
the  government  of  Great  Britain  for  the  settlement  of 
our  neutral  and  national  rights,  and  of  the  conditions  of 
commercial  intercourse  with  that  nation,  had  resulted  in 
articles  of  a  treaty,  which  could  not  be  acceded  to  on 
our  part ;  that  instructions  had  consequently  been  sent  to 
our  ministers  there  to  resume  the  negotiations,  and  to 
endeavor  to  obtain  certain  alterations,  and  that  this  was 
interrupted  by  the  transaction  which  took  place  between 
the  frigates  Leopard  and  Chesapeake :  the  call  on  that 
government  for  reparation  of  this  wrong  produced,  as 
Congress  have  been  already  informed,  the  mission  of  a 
special  minister  to  this  country ;  and  the  occasion  is  now 
arrived  when  the  public  interest  permits  arid  requires  that 
the  whole  of  these  proceedings  should  be  made  known 
to  you. 

I  therefore  now  communicate  the  instructions  given  to 
our  minister  resident  at  London,  and  his  communications 
to  that  government  on  the  subject  of  the  Chesapeake,  with 
the  correspondence  which  has  taken  place  here  between 
the  secretary  of  state  and  Mr.  Rose,  the  special  minister 
charged  with  the  adjustment  of  that  difference ;  the  in- 


SPECIAL    MESSAGE.  197 

structions  to  our  ministers  for  the  formation  of  a  treaty  ; 
their  correspondence  with  the  British  commissioners  and 
with  their  own  government  on  that  subject ;  the  treaty 
itself,  and  written  declaration  of  the  British  commission 
ers  accompanying  it,  and  the  instructions  given  by  us  for 
resuming  the  negotiation,  with  the  proceedings  and  cor 
respondence  subsequent  thereto.  To  these  I  have  added 
a  letter  lately  addressed  to  the  secretary  of  state  from  one 
of  our  late  ministers,  which,  though  not  strictly  written 
in  an  official  character,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  communi 
cate,  in  order  that  his  views  of  the  proposed  treaty,  and 
its  several  articles,  may  be  fairly  presented  and  under 
stood. 

Although  I  have  heretofore,  and  from  time  to  time, 
made  such  communications  to  Congress  as  to  keep  them 
possessed  of  a  general  and  just  view  of  the  proceedings 
and  dispositions  of  the  government  of  France  towards 
this  country,  yet,  in  our  present  critical  situation,  when 
we  find  no  conduct  on  our  part,  however  impartial  and 
friendly,  has  been  sufficient  to  insure  from  either  bellige 
rent  a  just  respect  for  our  rights,  I  am  desirous  that  no 
thing  shall  be  omitted  on  my  part  which  may  add  to  your 
information  on  this  subject,  or  contribute  to  the  correct 
ness  of  the  views  which  should  be  formed.  The  papers 
which  for  these  reasons  I  now  lay  before  you,  embrace  all 
the  communications,  official  or  verbal,  from  the  French 
government,  respecting  the  general  relations  between  the 
two  countries  which  have  been  transmitted  through  our 
minister  there,  or  through  any  other  accredited  channel, 
since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  to  which  time  all  in 
formation  of  the  same  kind  had  from  time  to  time  been 
given.  Some  of  these  papers  have  already  been  submit 
ted  to  Congress ;  but  it  is  thought  better  to  offer  them 
again,  in  order  that  the  chain  of  communications,  of 
which  they  make  apart,  may  be  presented  unbroken. 

When,  on  the  26th  of  February,  I  communicated  to 
both  houses  the  letter  of  General  Armstrong  to  M.  Cham- 
pagny,  I  desired  it  might  not  be  published,  because  of 
the  tendency  of  that  practice  to  restrain  injuriously  the 
freedom  of  our  foreign  correspondence.  But  perceiving 
that  this  caution,  proceeding  purely  from  a  regard  for  the 
VOL.  n,  17* 


198 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


public  good,  has  furnished  occasion  for  disseminating 
unfounded  suspicions  and  insinuations,  I  am  induced  to 
believe  that  the  good  which  will  now  result  from  its  pub 
lication,  by  confirming  the  confidence  and  union  of  our 
fellow-citizens,  will  more  than  countervail  the  ordinary 
objection  to  such  publications.  It  is  my  wish,  therefore, 
that  it  may  be  now  published. 


EIGHTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE, 

NOVEMBER  8,   1808. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

of  the  United  States  : 

It  would  have  been  a  source,  fellow-citizens,  of  much 
gratification,  if  our  last  communications  from  Europe  had 
enabled  me  to  inform  you  that  the  belligerent  nations, 
whose  disregard  of  neutral  rights  has  been  so  destructive 
to  our  commerce,  had  become  awakened  to  the  duty  and 
true  policy  of  revoking  their  unrighteous  edicts.  That 
no  means  might  be  omitted  to  produce  this  salutary  ef 
fect,  I  lost  no  time  in  availing  myself  of  the  act  authori 
zing  a  suspension,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  the  several  em 
bargo  laws.  Our  ministers  at  London  and  Paris  were  in 
structed  to  explain  to  the  respective  governments  there 
our  disposition  to  exercise  the  authority  in  such  manner 
as  would  withdraw  the  pretext  on  which  the  aggressions 
were  originally  founded,  and  open  the  way  for  a  renewal 
of  that  commercial  intercourse  which,  it  was  alleged  on 
all  sides,  had  been  reluctantly  obstructed.  As  each  of 
those  governments  had  pledged  its  readiness  to  concur  in 
renouncing  a  measure  which  reached  its  adversary  through 
the  incontestible  rights  of  neutrality  only,  and  as  the  mea 
sure  had  been  assumed  by  each  as  a  retaliation  for  an  as 
serted  acquiescence  in  the  aggressions  of  the  other,  it  was 
reasonably  expected  that  the  occasion  would  have  been 
seized  by  both  for  evincing  the  sincerity  of  their  profes 
sions,  and  for  restoring  to  the  commerce  of  the  United 


EIGHTH   ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  199 

States  its  legitimate  freedom.  The  instructions  to  our 
ministers  with  respect  to  the  different  belligerents,  were 
necessarily  modified  with  reference  to  their  different  cir 
cumstances,  and  to  the  condition  annexed  by  law  to  the 
executive  power  of  suspension,  requiring  a  degree  of  se 
curity  to  our  commerce  which  would  not  result  from  a 
repeal  of  the  decrees  of  France.  Instead  of  a  pledge, 
therefore,  of  a  suspension  of  the  embargo  as  to  her,  in 
case  of  such  a  repeal,  it  was  presumed  that  a  sufficient 
inducement  might  be  found  in  other  considerations,  and 
particularly  in  the  change  produced  by  a  compliance  with 
our  just  demands  by  one  belligerent,  and  a  refusal  by  the 
other  in  the  relation  between  the  other  and  the  United 
States.  To  Great  Britain,  whose  power  on  the  ocean  is 
so  ascendant,  it  was  deemed  not  inconsistent  with  that 
condition  to  state  explicitly,  that,  on  her  rescinding  her 
orders  in  relation  to  the  United  States,  their  trade  would  be 
opened  with  her,  and  remain  shut  to  her  enemy,  in  case  of 
his  failure  to  rescind  his  decrees  also.  From  France  no  an 
swer  has  been  received,  nor  any  indication  that  the  re 
quisite  change  in  her  decrees  is  contemplated.  The  fa 
vorable  reception  of  the  proposition  to  Great  Britain  was 
the  less  to  be  doubted,  as  her  orders  of  council  had  not 
only  been  referred  for  their  vindication  to  an  acquies 
cence  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  no  longer  to  be 
pretended ;  but  as  the  arrangement  proposed,  whilst  it  re 
sisted  the  illegal  decrees  of  France,  involved,  moreover, 
substantially,  the  precise  advantages  professedly  aimed  at 
by  the  British  orders.  The  arrangement  has  neverthe 
less  been  rejected. 

The  candid  and  liberal  experiment  having  thus  failed, 
and  no  other  event  having  occurred  on  which  a  suspen 
sion  of  the  embargo  by  the  executive  was  authorized,  it 
necessarily  remains  in  the  extent  originally  given  to  it. 
We  have  the  satisfaction,  however,  to  reflect,  that,  in  re 
turn  for  the  privations  imposed  by  the  measure,  and  which 
our  fellow-citizens  in  general  have  borne  with  patriotism, 
it  has  had  the  important  effects  of  saving  our  mariners, 
and  our  vast  mercantile  property,  as  well  as  of  affording 
time  for  prosecuting  the  defensive  and  provisional  mea 
sures  called  for  by  the  occasion.  It  has  demonstrated  to 


200  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

foreign  nations  the  moderation  and  firmness  which  govern 
our  councils,  and  to  our  citizens  the  necessity  of  uniting 
in  support  of  the  laws  and  the  rights  of  their  country,  and 
has  thus  long  frustrated  those  usurpations  and  spoliations 
which,  if  resisted,  involved  war,  and  if  submitted  to,  sa 
crificed  a  vital  principle  of  our  national  independence. 

Under  a  continuance  of  the  belligerent  measures, 
which,  in  defiance  of  laws  which  consecrate  the  rights  of 
neutrals,  overspread  the  ocean  with  danger,  it  will  rest 
with  the  wisdom  of  Congress  to  decide  on  the  course  best 
adapted  to  such  a  state  of  things ;  and  bringing  with 
them,  as  they  do,  from  every  part  of  the  Union,  the  sen 
timents  of  our  constituents,  my  confidence  is  strength 
ened  that,  in  forming  this  decision,  they  will,  with  an  un 
erring  regard  to  the  essential  rights  and  interests  of  the 
nation,  weigh  and  compare  the  painful  alternatives  out  of 
which  a  choice  is  to  be  made.  Nor  should  I  do  justice  to 
the  virtues  which,  on  other  occasions,  have  marked  the 
character  of  our  fellow-citizens,  if  I  did  not  cherish  an 
equal  confidence  that  the  alternative  chosen,  whatever  it 
may  be,  will  be  maintained  with  all  the  fortitude  and  pa 
triotism  which  the  crisis  ought  to  inspire. 

The  documents  containing  the  correspondences  on  the 
subject  of  the  foreign  edicts  against  our  commerce,  with 
the  instructions  given  to  our  ministers  at  London  and 
Paris,  are  now  laid  before  you. 

The  communications  made  to  Congress  at  their  last 
session  explained  the  posture  in  which  the  close  of  the 
discussion  relating  to  the  attack  by  a  British  ship  of  war 
on  the  frigate  Chesapeake,  left  a  subject  on  which  the  na 
tion  had  mrnifested  so  honorable  a  sensibility.  Every 
view  of  what  had  passed  authorized  a  belief  that  imme 
diate  steps  would  be  taken  by  the  British  government  for 
redressing  a  wrong,  which,  the  more  it  was  investigated, 
appeared  the  more  clearly  to  require  what  had  not  been 
provided  for  in  the  special  mission.  It  is  found  that  no 
steps  have  been  taken  for  the  purpose.  On  the  contrary, 
it  will  be  seen,  in  the  documents  laid  before  you,  that  the 
inadmissible  preliminary,  which  obstructed  the  adjust 
ment,  is  still  adhered  to  ;  and,  moreover,  that  it  is  now 
brought  into  connection  with  the  distinct  and  irrelative 


EIGHTH    ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  201 

case  of  the  orders  in  council.  The  instructions  which 
had  been  given  to  our  ministers  at  London,  with  a  view 
to  facilitate,  if  necessary,  the  reparation  claimed  by  the 
United  States,  are  included  in  the  documents  communi 
cated. 

Our  relations  with  the  other  powers  of  Europe  have 
undergone  no  material  changes  since  your  last  session. 
The  important  negotiations  with  Spain,  which  had  been 
alternately  suspended  and  resumed,  necessarily  experience 
a  pause  under  the  extraordinary  and  interesting  crisis 
which  distinguishes  her  internal  situation. 

With  the  Barbary  powers  we  continue  in  harmony,  with 
the  exception  of  an  unjustifiable  proceeding  of  the  dey  of 
Algiers  towards  our  consul  to  that  regency.  Its  charac 
ter  and  circumstances  are  now  laid  before  you,  and  will 
enable  you  to  decide  how  far  it  may,  either  now  or  here 
after,  call  for  any  measures  not  within  the  limits  of  the 
executive  authority. 

With  our  Indian  neighbors  the  public  peace  has  been 
steadily  maintained.  Some  instances  of  individual  wrong 
have,  as  at  other  times,  taken  place,  but  in  no  wise  impli 
cating  the  will  of  the  nation.  Beyond  the  Mississippi, 
the  loways,  the  Sacs,  and  the  Alabamas  have  delivered  up 
for  trial  and  punishment,  individuals  from  among  them 
selves,  accused  of  murdering  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
On  this  side  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Creeks  are  exerting 
themselves  to  arrest  offenders  of  the  same  kind  ;  the  Choc- 
taws  have  manifested  their  readiness  and  desire  for  ami 
cable  and  just  arrangements  respecting  depredations  com 
mitted  by  disorderly  persons  of  their  tribe.  And,  gene 
rally,  from  a  conviction  that  we  consider  them  as  a  part 
of  ourselves,  and  cherish  with  sincerity  their  rights  and 
interests,  the  attachment  of  the  Indian  tribes  is  gaining 
strength  daily,  is  extending  from  the  nearer  to  the  more 
remote,  and  will  amply  requite  us  for  the  justice  and 
friendship  practised  towards  them.  Husbandry  and 
household  manufacture  are  advancing  among  them,  more 
rapidly  with  the  southern  than  the  northern  tribes,  from 
circumstances  of  soil  and  climate;  and  one  of  the  two 
great  divisions  of  the  Cherokee  nation  have  now  under 
consideration  to  solicit  the  citizenship  of  the  United 


202  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

States,  and  to  be  identified  with  us  in  laws  and  govern 
ment,  in  such  progressive  manner  as  we  shall  think  best. 

In  consequence  of  the  appropriations  of  the  last  ses 
sion  of  Congress  for  the  security  of  our  seaport  towns 
and  harbors,  such  works  of  defence  have  been  erected 
as  seemed  to  be  called  for  by  the  situation  of  the  several 
places,  their  relative  importance,  and  the  scale  of  expense 
indicated  by  the  amount  of  the  appropriation.  These 
works  will  chiefly  be  finished  in  the  course  of  the  present 
season,  except  at  New  York  and  New  Orleans,  where 
most  was  to  be  done  ;  and  although  a  great  proportion  of 
the  last  appropriation  has  been  expended  on  the  former 
place,  yet  some  further  views  will  be  submitted  to  Con 
gress  for  rendering  its  security  entirely  adequate  against 
naval  enterprise.  A  view  of  what  has  been  done  at  the 
several  places,  and  of  what  is  proposed  to  be  done,  shall 
be  communicated  as  soon  as  the  several  reports  are  re 
ceived. 

Of  the  gun-boats  authorized  by  the  act  of  December 
last,  it  has  been  thought  necessary  to  build  only  103  in 
the  present  year.  These,  with  those  before  possessed,  are 
sufficient  for  the  harbors  and  waters  exposed,  and  the  re 
sidue  will  require  little  time  for  their  construction  when 
it  is  deemed  necessary. 

Under  the  act  of  the  last  session  for  raising  an  addi 
tional  military  force,  so  many  officers  were  immediately 
appointed  as  were  necessary  for  carrying  on  the  business 
of  recruiting,  and  in  proportion  as  it  advanced,  others 
have  been  added.  We  have  reasons  to  believe  their  suc 
cess  has  been  satisfactory,  although  such  returns  have  not 
yet  been  received  as  enable  me  to  present  to  you  a  state 
ment  of  the  numbers  engaged. 

I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  in  the  course  of  the  last 
season,  to  call  for  any  general  detachments  of  militia  or 
volunteers,  under  the  laws  passed  for  that  purpose.  For 
the  ensuing  season,  however,  they  will  be  required  to  be 
in  readiness  should  their  service  be  wanted.  Some  small 
and  special  detachments  have  been  necessary  to  maintain 
the  laws  of  embargo  on  that  portion  of  our  northern  fron 
tier  which  offered  peculiar  facilities  for  evasion;  but  these 
were  replaced  as  soon  as  it  could  be  done,  by  bodies  of 


EIGHTH    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  203 

new  recruits.  By  the  aid  of  these,  and  of  the  armed  ves 
sels  called  into  service  in  other  quarters,  the  spirit  of  dis 
obedience  and  abuse  which  manifested  itself  early  and 
with  sensible  effect  while  we  were  unprepared  to  meet  it, 
has  been  considerably  repressed. 

Considering  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  times 
in  which  we  live,  our  attention  shouid  unremittingly  be 
fixed  on  the  safety  of  our  country.  For  a  people  who 
are  free,  and  who  mean  to  remain  so,  a  well-organized 
and  armed  militia  is  their  best  security.  It  is  therefore 
incumbent  on  us,  at  every  meeting  to  revise  the  condition 
of  the  militia,  and  to  ask  ourselves  if  it  is  prepared  to 
repel  a  powerful  enemy  at  every  point  of  our  territories 
exposed  to  invasion.  Some  of  the  states  have  paid  a 
laudable  attention  to  this  object ;  but  every  degree  of 
neglect  is  to  be  found  among  others.  Congress  alone 
have  power  to  produce  a  uniform  state  of  preparation  in 
this  great  organ  of  defence  ;  the  interest  which  they  so 
deeply  feel  in  their  own  and  their  country's  security,  will 
present  this  as  among  the  most  important  objects  of  their 
deliberation. 

Under  the  acts  of  March  11  and  April  23,  respecting 
arms,  the  difficulty  of  procuring  them  from  abroad  dur 
ing  the  present  situation  and  dispositions  of  Europe, 
induced  us  to  direct  our  whole  efforts  to  the  means  of 
internal  supply.  The  public  factories  have  therefore 
been  enlarged,  additional  machineries  erected,  and,  in 
proportion  as  artificers  can  be  found  or  formed,  their 
effect,  already  more  than  doubled,  may  be  increased  so 
as  to  keep  pace  with  the  yearly  increase  of  the  militia. 
The  annual  sums  appropriated  by  the  latter  act  have  been 
directed  to  the  encouragement  of  private  factories  of 
arms,  and  contracts  have  been  entered  into  with  indivi 
dual  undertakers  to  nearly  the  amount  of  the  first  year's 
appropriation. 

The  suspension  of  our  foreign  commerce,  produced  by 
the  injustice  of  the  belligerent  powers,  and  the  conse 
quent  losses  and  sacrifices  of  our  citizens,  are  subjects 
of  just  concern.  The  situation  into  which  we  have  thus 
been  forced,  has  impelled  us  to  apply  a  portion  of  our 
industry  and  capital  to  internal  manufactures  and  improve- 


204  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ments.  The  extent  of  this  conversion  is  daily  increas 
ing,  and  little  doubt  remains  that  the  establishments 
formed  and  forming  will,  under  the  auspices  of  cheaper 
materials  and  subsistence,  the  freedom  of  labor  from  tax 
ation  with  us,  and  of  protecting  duties  and  prohibitions, 
become  permanent.  The  commerce  with  the  Indians, 
too,  within  our  own  boundaries,  is  likely  to  receive  abun 
dant  aliment  from  the  same  internal  source,  and  will 
secure  to  them  peace  and  the  progress  of  civilization, 
undisturbed  by  practices  hostile  to  both. 

The  accounts  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  during 
the  year  ending  on  the  30th  day  of  September  last,  being 
not  yet  made  up,  a  correct  statement  will  hereafter  be 
transmitted  from  the  treasury.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is 
ascertained  that  the  receipts  have  amounted  to  near 
eighteen  millions  of  dollars,  which,  with  the  eight  mil 
lions  and  a  half  in  the  treasury  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year,  have  enabled  us,  after  meeting  the  current  demands, 
and  interest  incurred,  to  pay  two  millions  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  of  the  principal  of  our  funded  debt,  and 
left  us  in  the  treasury,  on  that  day,  near  fourteen  millions 
of  dollars.  Of  these,  five  millions  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  will  be  necessary  to  pay  what  will 
be  due  on  the  first  day  of  January  next,  which  will  com 
plete  the  reimbursement  of  the  eight  per  cent,  stock. 
These  payments,  with  those  made  in  the  six  years  and  a 
half  preceding,  will  have  extinguished  thirty-three  mil 
lions  five  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars  of  the 
principal  of  the  funded  debt,  being  the  whole  which  could 
be  paid  within  the  limits  of  the  law  and  of  our  contracts; 
and  the  amount  of  principal  thus  discharged  will  have 
liberated  the  revenue  from  about  two  millions  of  dollars 
of  interest,  and  added  that  sum  annually  to  the  disposable 
surplus.  The  probable  accumulation  of  the  surplusses 
of  revenue  beyond  what  can  be  applied  to  the  payment 
of  the  public  debt,  whenever  the  freedom  and  safety  of 
our  commerce  shall  be  restored,  merits  the  consideration 
of  Congress.  Shall  it  lie  unproductive  in  the  public 
vaults?  Shall  the  revenue  be  reduced?  Or,  shall  it  not 
rather  be  appropriated  to  the  improvements  of  roads, 
canals,  rivers,  education,  and  other  great  foundations  of 


EIGHTH   ANNUAL   MESSAGE.  205 

prosperity  and  union,  under  the  powers  which  Congress 
may  already  possess,  or  such  amendment  of  the  constitu 
tion  as  may  be  approved  by  the  states  1  While  uncertain 
of  the  course  of  things,  the  time  may  be  advantageously 
employed  in  obtaining  the  powers  necessary  for  a  system 
of  improvement,  should  that  be  thought  best. 

Availing  myself  of  this,  the  last  occasion  which  will 
occur,  of  addressing  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature  at 
their  meeting,  I  cannot  omit  the  expression  of  my  sincere 
gratitude  for  the  repeated  proofs  of  confidence  manifested 
to  me  by  themselves  and  their  predecessers  since  my  call 
to  the  administration,  and  the  many  indulgences  experi 
enced  at  their  hands.  The  same  grateful  acknowledge 
ments  are  due  to  our  fellow-citizens  generally,  whose  sup 
port  has  been  my  great  encouragement  under  all  embar 
rassments.  In  the  transaction  of  their  business  I  cannot 
have  escaped  error.  It  is  incident  to  our  imperfect  na 
ture.  But  I  may  say  with  truth,  my  errors  have  been  of 
the  understanding,  not  of  intention ;  and  that  the  ad 
vancement  of  their  rights  and  interests  has  been  the  con 
stant  motive  for  every  measure.  On  these  considerations 
I  solicit  their  indulgence.  Looking  forward  with  anxiety 
to  their  future  destinies,  I  trust  that,  in  their  steady  cha 
racter,  unshaken  by  difficulties,  in  their  love  of  liberty, 
obedience  to  law,  and  support  of  the  public  authorities, 
I  see  a  sure  guarantee  of  the  permanence  of  our  repub 
lic  ;  and  retiring  from  the  charge  of  their  affairs,  I  carry 
with  me  the  consolation  of  a  firm  persuasion  that  Heaven 
has  in  store  for  our  beloved  country  long  ages  to  come 
of  prosperity  and  happiness. 

VOL.  II. 


206  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

PRES.  JACKSON'S   PROCLAMATION, 

DECEMBER  11,  1832. 

Whereas,  a  convention  assembled  in  the  state  of  South 
Carolina  have  passed  an  ordinance  by  which  they  declare, 
"  That  the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  im 
posing  of  duties  and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  for 
eign  commodities,  and  now  having  actual  operation  and 
effect  within  the  United  States,  and  more  especially" 
two  acts  for  the  same  purposes,  passed  on  the  29th  of  May, 
1828,  and  on  the  14th  of  July,  1832,  "  are  unauthorized 
by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  violate  the 
true  meaning  and  intent  thereof,  and  are  null  and  void, 
and  no  law,"  nor  binding  on  the  citizens  of  that  state  or 
its  officers :  and  by  the  said  ordinance,  it  is  further 
declared  to  be  unlawful  for  any  of  the  constituted  author 
ities  of  the  state  or  of  the  United  States  to  enforce  the 
payment  of  the  duties  imposed  by  the  said  acts  within 
the  same  state,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  legislature 
to  pass  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  full  effect 
to  the  said  ordinance. 

And  whereas,  by  the  said  ordinance,  it  is  further  or 
dained,  that  in  no  case  of  law  or  equity,  decided  in  the 
courts  of  said  state,  wherein  shall  be  drawn  in  question 
the  validity  of  the  said  ordinance,  or  of  the  acts  of  the 
legislature  that  may  be  passed  to  give  it  effect,  or  of  the 
said  laws  of  the  United  States,  no  appeal  shall  be  allowed 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  nor  shall  any 
copy  of  the  record  be  permitted  or  allowed  for  that  pur 
pose,  and  that  any  person  attempting  to  take  such  appeal 
shall  be  punished  as  for  contempt  of  court. 

And  finally,  the  said  ordinance  declares  that  the  people 
of  South  Carolina  will  maintain  the  said  ordinance  at 
every  hazard ;  and  that  they  will  consider  the  passage  of 
any  act  by  Congress  abolishing  or  closing  the  ports  of 
the  said  state,  or  otherwise  obstructing  the  free  ingress 
or  egress  of  vessels  to  and  from  the  said  ports,  or  any 
other  act  of  the  federal  government  to  coerce  the  state, 


JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION.  207 

shut  up  her  ports,  destroy  or  harass  her  commerce,  or  to 
enforce  the  said  act  otherwise  than  through  the  civil 
tribunals  of  the  country,  as  inconsistent  with  the  longer 
continuance  of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union ;  and  that 
the  people  of  the  said  state  will  henceforth  hold  them 
selves  absolved  from  all  further  obligation  to  maintain 
their  political  connection  with  the  people  of  the  other 
states,  and  will  forthwith  proceed  to  organize  a  separate 
government,  and  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  sove 
reign  and  independent  {states  may  of  right  do. 

And  whereas,  the  said  ordinance  prescribes  to  the 
people  of  South  Carolina  a  course  of  conduct,  in  direct 
violation  of  their  duty  as  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  their  country,  subversive  of  its 
constitution,  and  having  for  its  object  the  destruction  of 
the  Union — that  Union  which,  coeval  with  our  political 
existence,  led  our  fathers,  without  any  other  ties  to  unite 
them  than  those  of  patriotism  and  a  common  cause, 
through  a  sanguinary  struggle  to  a  glorious  independence 
— that  sacred  Union,  hitherto  inviolate,  which,  perfected 
by  our  happy  constitution,  has  brought  us  by  the  favolr 
of  Heaven  to  a  state  of  prosperity  at  home,  and  high 
consideration  abroad,  rarely,  if  ever,  equalled  in  the 
history  of  nations.  To  preserve  this  bond  of  our  political 
existence  from  destruction,  to  maintain  inviolate  this 
state  of  national  honor  and  prosperity,  and  to  justify  the 
confidence  my  fellow-citizens  have  reposed  in  me,  I, 
ANDREW  JACKSON,  President  of  the  United  States,  have 
thought  proper  to  issue  this  my  PROCLAMATION, 
stating  my  views  of  the  constitution  and  laws  applicable 
to  the  measures  adopted  by  the  convention  of  South 
Carolina,  and  to  the  reasons  they  have  put  forth  to  sus 
tain  them,  declaring  the  course  which  duty  will  require 
me  to  pursue,  and,  appealing  to  the  understanding  and 
patriotism  of  the  people,  warn  them  of  the  Consequences 
that  must  inevitably  result  from  an  observance  of  the 
dictates  of  the  convention. 

Strict  duty  would  require  of  me  nothing  more  than 
the  exercise  of  those  powers  with  which  I  am  now,  or 
may  hereafter  be  invested,  for  preserving  the  peace  of 
the  Union,  and  for  the  execution  of  the  laws.  But  the 


208  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

imposing  aspect  which  opposition  has  assumed  in  this 
case,  by  clothing  itself  with  state  authority,  and  the  deep 
interest  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  must  all 
feel  in  preventing  a  resort  to  stronger  measures,  while 
there  is  a  hope  that  any  thing  will  be  yielded  to  reasoning 
and  remonstrance,  perhaps  demand,  and  will  certainly 
justify  a  full  exposition  to  South  Carolina  and  the  nation 
of  the  views  I  entertain  of  this  important  question,  as 
well  as  a  distinct  enunciation  of  the  course  which  my 
sense  of  duty  will  require  me  to  pursue. 

The  ordinance  is  founded,  not  on  the  indefeasible  right 
of  resisting  acts  which  are  plainly  unconstitutional,  and 
too  oppressive  to  be  endured,  but  on  the  strange  position 
that  any  one  state  may  not  only  declare  an  act  of  Con 
gress  void,  but  prohibit  its  execution — that  they  may  do 
this  consistently  with  the  constitution — that  the  true 
construction  of  that  instrument  permits  a  state  to  retain 
its  place  in  the  Union,  and  yet  be  bound  by  no  other  of 
its  laws  than  it  may  choose  to  consider  as  constitutional. 
It  is  true,  they  add,  that  to  justify  this  abrogation  of  a 
law,  it  must  be  palpably  contrary  to  the  constitution ; 
but  it  is  evident,  that  to  give  the  right  of  resisting  laws 
of  that  description,  coupled  with  the  uncontrolled  right 
to  decide  what  laws  deserve  that  character,  is  to  give  the 
power  of  resisting  all  laws.  For,  as  by  the  theory,  there 
is  no  appeal,  the  reason  alleged  by  the  state,  good  or  bad, 
must  prevail.  If  it  should  be  said  that  public  opinion  is 
a  sufficient  check  against  the  abuse  of  this  power,  it  may 
be  asked  why  it  is  not  deemed  a  sufficient  guard  against 
the  passage  of  an  unconstitutional  act  by  Congress. 
There  is,  however,  a  restraint  in  this  last  case,  which 
makes  the  assumed  power  of  a  state  more  indefeasible, 
and  which  does  not  exist  in  the  other.  There  are  two 
appeals  from  an  unconstitutional  act  passed  by  Congress, 
one  to  the  judiciary,  the  other  to  the  people  and  the 
states.  There  is  no  appeal  from  the  state  decision  in 
theory,  and  the  practical  illustration  shows  that  the  courts 
are  closed  against  the  application  to  review  it,  both  judges 
and  jurors  being  sworn  to  decide  in  its  favor.  But  rea 
soning  on  this  subject  is  superfluous  when  our  social 
compact  in  express  terms  declares  that  the  laws  of  the 


JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION. 

United  States,  its  constitution,  and  treaties  made  tinder 
it,  are  the  supreme  law  of  the  land — and  for  greater 
caution  adds,  "  that  the  judges  in  every  state  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  any  thing  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of 
any  state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  And  it  may 
be  asserted  xvithout  fear  of  refutation,  that  no  federatire 
government  could  exist  without  a  similar  provision.  Look 
for  a  moment  to  the  consequences.  If  South  Carolina 
considers  the  revenue  laws  unconstitutional,  and  has  a 
right  to  prevent  their  execution  in  the  port  of  Charleston, 
there  would  be  a  clear  constitutional  objection  to  their 
collection  in  every  other  port,  and  no  revenue  could  be 
collected  any  where  :  for  all  impost  must  be  equal.  It  is 
no  answer  to  repeat,  that  an  unconstitutional  law  is  no 
law,  so  long  as  the  question  of  its  legality  is  to  be  decided 
by  the  state  itself;  for  every  law  operating  injuriously 
upon  any  local  interest  will  be  perhaps  thought,  and  cer 
tainly  represented  as  unconstitutional,  and,  as  has  been 
shown,  there  is  no  appeal. 

If  this  doctrine  had  been  established  at  an  earlier  day, 
the  Union  would  have  been  dissolved  in  its  infancy.  The 
excise  law  in  Pennsylvania,  the  embargo  and  non-inter 
course  law  in  the  eastern  states,  the  carriage  tax  in  Vir 
ginia,  were  all  deemed  unconstitutional,  and  were  more 
unequal  in  their  operation  than  any  of  the1  laws  now 
complained  of;  but  fortunately  none  of  those  states  dis 
covered  that  they  had  the  right  now  claimed  by  South 
Carolina.  The  war  into  which  we  were  forced  to  sup 
port  the  dignity  of  the  nation  and  the  rights  of  our  citi 
zens,  might  have  ended  in  defeat  and  disgrace,  instead  of 
victory  and  honor,  if  the  states  who  supposed  it  a  ruinous 
and  unconstitutional  measure  had  thought  they  possessed 
the  right  of  nullifying  the  act  by  which  it  was  declared, 
and  denying  supplies  for  its  prosecution.  Hardly  and 
unequally  as  those  measures  bore  upon  several  members 
of  the  Union,  to  the  legislatures  of  none  did  this  efficient 
and  peaceable  remedy,  as  it  is  called,  suggest  itself.  The 
discovery  of  this  important  feature  in  our  constitution 
was  reserved  for  the  present  day.  To  the  statesmen  of 
South  Carolina  belongs  the  invention,  and  upon  the  citU 

VOL.  II,  IS* 


210  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

zens  of  that  state  will  unfortunately  fall  the  evil  of  re 
ducing  it  to  practice. 

If  the  doctrine  of  a  state  veto  upon  the  laws  of  the 
Union,  carries  with  it  internal  evidence  of  its  impractica 
ble  absurdity,  our  constitutional  history  will  also  afford 
abundant  proof  that  it  would  have  been  repudiated  with 
indignation,  had  it  been  proposed  to  form  a  feature  in 
our  government. 

In  our  colonial  state,  although  dependent  on  another 
power,  we  very  early  considered  ourselves  as  connected 
by  common  interest  with  each  other.  Leagues  were 
formed  for  common  defence,  and  before  the  declaration 
of  independence  we  were  known  in  our  aggregate  cha 
racter  AS  THE  UNITED  COLONIES  OF  AMERICA.  That 

decisive  and  important  step  was  taken  jointly.  We  de 
clared  ourselves  a  nation  by  a  joint,  not  by  several  acts; 
and  when  the  terms  of  confederation  were  reduced  to 
form,  it  was  in  that  of  a  solemn  league  of  several  states, 
by  which  they  agreed,  that  they  would  collectively  form 
one  nation  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  some  certain 
domestic  concerns  and  all  foreign  relations.  In  the  in 
strument  forming  that  union  is  found  an  article  which 
declares  that  "  every  state  shall  abide  by  the  determina 
tion  of  Congress  on  all  questions  which  by  that  confede 
ration  should  be  submitted  to  them." 

Under  the  confederation,  then,  no  state  could  legally 
annul  a  decision  of  the  Congress,  or  refuse  to  submit  to 
its  execution  ;  but  no  provision  was  made  to  enforce 
these  decisions.  Congress  made  requisitions,  but  they 
were  not  complied  with.  The  government  could  not 
operate  on  individuals.  They  had  no  judiciary,  no  means 
of  collecting  revenue. 

But  the  defects  of  the  confederation  need  not  be  de 
tailed.  Under  its  operation  we  could  scarcely  be  called 
a  nation.  We  had  neither  prosperity  at  home  nor  con 
sideration  abroad.  This  state  of  things  could  not  be 
endured,  and  our  present  happy  constitution  was  formed, 
but  formed  in  vain,  if  this  fatal  doctrine  prevails.  It  was 
formed  for  important  objects  that  are  announced  in  the 
preamble,  made  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
p-ople  of  the  United  States,  whose  delegates  framed,  and 


JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION.  211 

whose  conventions  approved  it.  The  most  important 
among  these  objects,  that  which  is  placed  first  in  rank, 
on  which  all  others  rest,  is,  "  to  form  a  more  perfect 
union"  Now,  is  it  possible  that  even  if  there  were  no  ex 
press  provisions  giving  supremacy  to  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States,  over  those  of  the  states — can 
it  be  conceived  that  an  instrument  made  for  the  purpose 
of  "forming  a  more  perfect  union"  than  that  of  the  con 
federation,  could  be  so  constructed  by  the  assembled 
wisdom  of  our  country  as  to  substitute  for  that  confede 
ration  a  form  of  government  dependent  for  its  existence 
on  the  local  interest,  the  party  spirit  of  a  state,  or  of  a 
prevailing  faction  in  a  state  ? — Every  man  of  plain  un 
sophisticated  understanding,  who  hears  the  question,  will 
give  such  an  answer  as  will  preserve  the  Union.  Meta 
physical  subtlety,  in  pursuit  of  an  impracticable  theory, 
could  alone  have  devised  one  that  is  calculated  to  de 
stroy  it. 

I  consider  then  the  power  to  annul  a  law  of  the  United 
States,  assumed  by  one  state,  incompatible  with  the  exist' 
ence  of  the  Union,  contradicted  expressly  by  the  letter 
of  the  constitution,  unauthorized  by  its  spirit,  inconsistent 
with  every  principle  on  which  it  was  founded,  and  de 
structive  of  the  great  object  for  which  it  was  formed. 

After  this  general  rule  of  the  leading  principle,  we 
must  examine  the  particular  application  of  it  which  is 
made  in  the  ordinance. 

The  preamble  rests  its  justification  on  these  grounds  : 
It  assumes  as  a  fact,  that  the  obnoxious  laws,  although 
they  purport  to  be  laws  for  raising  revenue,  were  in  real 
ity  intended  for  the  protection  of  manufactures,  which 
purpose  it  asserts  to  be  unconstitutional ;  that  the  opera 
tion  of  these  laws  is  unequal ;  that  the  amount  raised  by 
them  is  greater  than  is  required  by  the  wants  of  the  go 
vernment  ;  and,  finally,  that  the  proceeds  are  to  be  ap 
plied  to  objects  unauthorized  by  the  constitution.  These 
are  only  causes  alleged  to  justify  an  open  opposition  to 
the  laws  of  the  country,  and  a  threat  of  seceding  from 
the  Union  if  any  attempt  should  be  made  to  enforce 
them.  The  first  virtually  acknowledges  that  the  law  in 
question  was  passed  under  a  power  expressly  given  by  the 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

constitution,  to  lay  and  collect  imposts ;  but  its  constitu 
tionality  is  drawn  in  question  from  the  motives  of  those 
who  passed  it.  However  apparent  this  purpose  may  be 
in  the  present  case,  nothing  can  be  more  dangerous  than 
to  admit  the  position  that  an  unconstitutional  purpose, 
entertained  by  the  members  who  assent  to  a  law  enacted 
under  a  constitutional  power,  shall  make  that  law  void  ; 
for  how  is  that  purpose  to  be  ascertained  1  Who  is  to 
make  the  scrutiny  1  How  often  may  bad  purposes  be 
falsely  imputed — in  how  many  cases  are  they  concealed 
by  false  professions — in  how  many  is  no  declaration  of 
motives  made  ?  Admit  this  doctrine,  and  you  give  to  the 
states  an  uncontrolled  right  to  decide,  and  every  law  may 
be  annulled  under  this  pretext.  If,  therefore,  the  absurd 
and  dangerous  doctrine  should  be  admitted,  that  a  state 
may  annul  an  unconstitutional  law,  or  one  that  it  deems 
such,  it  will  not  apply  to  the  present  case. 

The  next  objection  is,  that  the  laws  in  question  ope 
rate  unequally.  This  objection  may  be  made  with  truth 
to  every  law  that  has  been  or  can  be  passed.  The  wis 
dom  of  man  never  yet  contrived  a  system  of  taxation  that 
would  operate  with  perfect  equality.  If  the  unequal 
operation  of  a  law  makes  it  unconstitutional,  and  if  all 
laws  of  that  description  may  be  abrogated  by  any  state 
for  that  cause,  then  indeed  is  the  federal  constitution  un 
worthy  of  the  slightest  effort  for  its  preservation.  We  have 
hitherto  relied  on  it  as  the  perpetual  bond  of  our  union. 
We  have  received  it  as  the  work  of  the  assembled  wis 
dom  of  the  nation.  We  have  trusted  to  it  as  to  the  sheet 
anchor  of  our  safety  in  the  stormy  times  of  conflict  with 
a  foreign  or  domestic  foe.  We  have  looked  to  it  with 
sacred  awe  as  the  palladium  of  our  liberties,  and  with  all 
the  solemnities  of  religion  have  pledged  to  each  other 
our  lives  and  fortunes  here,  and  our  hopes  of  happiness 
hereafter,  in  its  defence  and  support.  Were  we  mistaken, 
my  countrymen,  in  attaching  this  importance  to  the  con 
stitution  of  our  country  1  Was  our  devotion  paid  to  the 
wretched,  inefficient,  clumsy  contrivance  which  this  new 
doctrine  would  make  it  1  Did  we  pledge  ourselves  to 
the  support  of  an  airy  nothing,  a  bubble  that  must  be 
blown  away  by  the  first  breath  of  disaffection  ?  Was 


JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION.  213 

this  self-destroying,  visionary  theory,  the  work  of  the 
profound  statesmen,  the  exalted  patriots,  to  whom  the 
task  of  constitutional  reform  was  entrusted  1  Did  the 
name  of  Washington  sanction,  did  the  states  ratify  such 
an  anomaly  in  the  history  of  fundamental  legislation? 
No.  We  were  not  mistaken.  The  letter  of  this  great 
instrument  is  free  from  this  radical  fault ;  its  language 
directly  contradicts  the  imputation;  its  spirit — its  evi 
dent  intent  contradicts  it.  No,  we  did  not  err !  Our 
constitution  does  not  contain  the  absurdity  of  giving 
power  to  make  laws,  and  another  power  to  resist  them. 
The  sages,  whose  memory  will  always  be  reverenced, 
have  given  us  a  practical,  and,  as  they  hoped,  a  perma 
nent  constitutional  compact.  The  father  of  his  coun 
try  did  not  affix  his  revered  name  to  so  palpable  an  ab 
surdity.  Nor  did  the  states,  when  they  severally  ratified 
it,  do  so  under  the  impression  that  a  veto  on  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  was  reserved  to  them,  or  that  they 
could  exercise  it  by  implication.  Search  the  debates  in 
all  their  conventions — examine  the  speeches  of  the  most 
zealous  opposers  of  federal  authority — look  at  the  amend 
ments  that  were  proposed — they  are  all  silent — not  a 
syllable  uttered,  not  a  vote  given,  not  a  motion  made  to 
correct  the  explicit  supremacy  given  to  the  laws  of  the 
Union  over  those  of  the  states — or  to  show  that  implica 
tion,  as  is  now  contended,  could  defeat  it.  No — we  have 
not  erred  !  The  constitution  is  still  the  object  of  our 
reverence,  the  bond  of  our  Union,  our  defence  in  dan 
ger,  the  source  of  our  prosperity  in  peace.  It  shall  de 
scend,  as  we  have  received  it,  uncorrupted  by  sophistical 
construction,  to  posterity ;  and  the  sacrifices  of  local  in 
terest,  of  state  prejudices,  of  personal  animosities,  that 
were  made  to  bring  it  into  existence,  will  again  be  patri 
otically  offered  for  its  support. 

The  two  remaining  objections  made  by  the  ordinance 
to  these  laws  are,  that  the  sums  intended  to  be  raised  by 
them  are  greater  than  required,  and  that  the  proceeds  will 
be  unconstitutionally  employed. 

The  constitution  has  given  expressly  to  Congress  the 
right  of  raising  revenue  and  of  determining  the  sum  the 
public  exigencies  will  require.  The  states  have  no  con- 


£14  THfc   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

trol  over  the  exercise  of  this  right,  other  than  that  which 
results  from  the  power  of  changing  the  representatives 
Xvho  abuse  it ;  and  thus  procure  redress.  Congress  may 
undoubtedly  abuse  this  discretionary  power,  but  the  same 
may  be  said  of  others  with  which  they  are  vested.  Yet 
the  discretion  must  exist  somewhere.  The  constitution 
has  given  it  to  the  representatives  of  all  the  people, 
checked  by  the  representatives  of  the  states  and  the  ex 
ecutive  power.  The  South  Carolina  construction  gives 
it  to  the  legislature  or  the  convention  of  a  single  state, 
where  neither  the  people  of  the  different  states,  nor  the 
states  in  their  separate  capacity,  nor  the  chief  magis 
trate  elected  by  the  people,  have  any  representation. 
Which  is  the  most  discreet  disposition  of  the  power  ?  I 
do  not  ask  you,  fellow-citizens,  which  is  the  constitutional 
disposition — that  instrument  speaks  a  language  not  to  be 
misunderstood.  But  if  you  were  assembled  in  general 
convention,  which  would  you  think  the  safest  depository 
of  this  discretionary  power  in  the  last  resort?  Would 
you  add  a  clause  giving  it  to  each  of  the  states,  or  would 
you  sanction  the  wise  provisions  already  made  by  your 
constitution  ?  If  this  should  be  the  result  of  your  deli 
berations  when  providing  for  the  future,  are  you,  can  you 
be  ready,  to  risk  all  that  we  hold  dear,  to  establish,  for  a 
temporary  and  a  local  purpose,  that  which  you  must  ac 
knowledge  to  be  destructive  and  even  absurd  as  a  general 
provision  1  Carry  out  the  consequences  of  this  right 
Vested  in  the  different  states,  and  you  must  perceive  that 
the  crisis  your  conduct  presents  at  this  day  would  recur 
\vhenever  any  law  of  the  United  States  displeased  any  of 
the  states,  and  we  should  soon  cease  to  be  a  nation. 

The  ordinance,  with  the  same  knowledge  of  the  future 
that  characterises  a  former  objection,  tells  you  that  the 
proceeds  of  the  tax  will  be  unconstitutionally  applied.  If 
this  could  be  ascertained  xvith  certainty,  the  objection 
\Vould,  with  more  propriety,  be  reserved  for  the  laws  so 
applying  the  proceeds,  but  surely  cannot  be  urged  against 
the  law  levying  the  duty. 

These  are  the  allegations  contained  in  the  ordinance. 
Examine  them  seriously,  my  fellow-citizens, — judge  for 
yourselves.  I  appeal  to  you  to  determine  whether  they 


JACKSON'S   PROCLAMATION. 

are  so  clear,  so  convincing,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their 
correctness  :  and  even  if  you  should  come  to  this  conclu 
sion,  how  far  they,  justify  the  reckless,  destructive  course 
which  you  are  directed  to  pursue.  Review  these  objec 
tions,  and  the  conclusions  drawn  from  them,  once  more. 
What  are  they  ?  Every  law  then  for  raising  revenue, 
according  to  the  South  Carolina  ordinance,  may  be  right 
fully  annulled,  unless  it  be  so  framed  as  no  law  ever  will 
or  can  be  framed.  Congress  have  a  right  to  pass  laws 
for  raising  revenue,  and  each  state  have  aright  to  oppose 
their  execution—two  rights  directly  opposed  to  each 
other ;  and  yet  is  this  absurdity  supposed  to  be  contained 
in  an  instrument  drawn  for  the  express  purpose  of  avoid 
ing  collisions  between  the  states  and  general  govern 
ment,  by  an  assembly  of  the  most  enlightened  statesmen 
and  purest  patriots  ever  embodied  for  a  similar  purpose. 

In  vain  have  these  sages  declared  that  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and 
excises — in  vain  have  they  provided  that  they  shall  have 
power  to  pass  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  pro 
per  to  carrv  those  powers  into  execution,  that  those  laws, 
and  that  constitution  shall  be  the  "  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  and  that  the  judges  in  every  state  shall  be  bound 
thereby,  any  thing  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any 
state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  In  vain  have  the 
people  of  the  several  states  solemnly  sanctioned  these 
provisions,  made  them  their  paramount  law,  and  indivi 
dually  sworn  to  snpport  them  whenever  they  were  called 
on  to  execute  any  office.  Vain  provision  !  ineffectual  re 
strictions  !  vile  profanation  of  oaths !  miserable  mockery 
of  legislation  !  if  a  bare  majority  of  the  voters  in  any 
one  state  may,  on  a  real  or  supposed  knowledge  of  the 
intent  in  which  a  law  has  been  passed,  declare  them 
selves  free  from  its  operations — say,  here  it  gives  too  little, 
there  too  much,  and  operates  unequally — here  it  suffers 
articles  to  be  free  that  ought  to  be  taxed— there  it  taxes 
those  that  ought  to  be  free — in  this  case,  the  proceeds 
are  intended  to  be  applied  to  purposes  which  we  do  not 
approve- — in  that,  the  amount  raised  is  more  than  is 
wanted. 

Congress,  it  is  true,  are  invested   by  the  constitution 


216  THE  TRUE   AMERICAN. 

with  the  right  of  deciding  these  questions  according  to 
their  sound  discretion :  Congress  is  composed  of  the  re 
presentatives  of  all  the  states,  and  of  all  the  people  of  all 
the  states;  but  WE,  part  of  the  people  of  one  state,  to 
whom  the  constitution  has  given  no  power  on  the  sub 
ject,  from  whom  it  is  expressly  taken  away — WE,  who 
have  solemnly  agreed  that  this  constitution  shall  be  our 
law — WE,  most  of  whom  have  sworn  to  support  it — WE 
now  abrogate  this  law,  and  swear,  and  force  others  to 
swear,  that  it  shall  not  be  obeyed.  And  we  do  this,  not 
because  Congress  have  no  right  to  pass  such  laws ;  this 
we  do  not  allege ;  but  because  they  have  passed  them 
with  improper  views.  They  are  unconstitutional  from  the 
motives  of  those  who  passed  them,  which  we  can  never 
with  certainty  know — from  their  unequal  operation,  al 
though  it  is  impossible,  from  the  nature  of  things,  that 
they  should  be  equal — and  from  the  disposition  which  we 
presume  may  be  made  of  their  proceeds,  although  that 
disposition  has  not  been  declared.  This  is  the  plain 
meaning  of  the  ordinance  in  relation  to  laws  which  it 
abrogates  for  alleged  unconstitutionally.  But  it  does 
not  stop  there.  It  repeals,  in  express  terms,  an  impor 
tant  part  of  the  constitution  itself,  and  of  laws  passed  to 
give  it  effect,  which  have  never  been  alleged  to  be  un 
constitutional.  The  constitution  declares  that  the  judicial 
powers  of  the  United  States  extend  to  cases  arising  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  that  such  laws,  the 
constitution  and  treaties  shall  be  paramount  to  the  state 
constitutions  and  laws.  The  judiciary  act  prescribes  the 
mode  by  which  the  case  may  be  brought  before  a  court 
of  the  United  States,  by  appeal,  when  a  state  tribunal 
shall  decide  against  this  provision  of  the  constitution. 
The  ordinance  declares  there  shall  be  no  appeal — makes 
the  state  law  paramount  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States — forces  judges  and  jurors  to  swear  that 
they  will  disregard  their  provisions,  and  even  makes  it 
penal  in  a  suitor  to  attempt  relief  by  appeal.  It  further 
declares  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  authorities  of 
the  United  States  or  of  that  state,  to  enforce  the  payment 
of  duties  imposed  by  the  revenue  laws  within  its  limits. 
Here  is  a  law  of  the  United  States,  not  even  pretended 


JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION.  217 

to  be  unconstitutional,  repealed  by  the  authority  of  a 
small  majority  of  the  voters  of  a  single  state.  Here  is  a 
provision  of  the  constitution  which  is  solemnly  abrogated 
by  the  same  authority. 

On  such  expositions  and  reasonings  the  ordinance 
grounds  not  only  an  assertion  of  the  right  to  annul  the 
laws  of  which  it  complains,  but  to  enforce  it  by  a  threat 
of  seceding  from  the  Union  if  any  attempt  is  made  to 
execute  them. 

This  right  to  secede  is  deduced  from  the  nature  of  the 
constitution,  which  they  say  is  a  compact  between  sove 
reign  states  who  have  preserved  their  whole  sovereignty, 
and  therefore  are  subjects  to  no  superior ;  that  because 
they  made  the  compact,  they  can  break  it,  when,  in  their 
opinion,  it  has  been  departed  from  by  the  other  states. 
Fallacious  as  this  course  of  reasoning  is,  it  enlists  state 
pride,  and  finds  advocates  in  the  honest  prejudices  of 
those  who  have  not  studied  the  nature  of  our  government 
sufficiently  to  see  the  radical  error  on  which  it  rests. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  formed  the  constitu 
tion,  acting  through  the  state  legislatures  in  making  the 
compact,  to  meet  and  discuss  its  provisions,  and  acting 
in  separate  conventions  when  they  ratified  those  provi 
sions  ;  but  the  terms  used  in  its  construction  show  it  to 
be  a  government  in  which  the  people  of  all  the  states 
collectively  are  represented.  We  are  ONE  PEOPLE  in  the 
choice  of  President  and  Vice-President.  Here  the  states 
have  no  other  agency  than  to  direct  the  mode  in  which 
the  votes  shall  be  given.  The  candidates  having  the 
majority  of  all  the  votes  are  chosen.  The  electors  of  a 
majority  of  the  states  may  have  given  their  votes  for  one 
candidate,  and  yet  another  may  be  chosen.  The  people, 
then,  and  not  the  states,  are  represented  in  the  executive 
branch. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  there  is  this  differ 
ence,  that  the  people  of  one  state  do  not,  as  in  the  case 
of  President  and  Vice-President,  all  vote  for  the  same 
officers.  The  people  of  all  the  states  do  not  vote  for  all 
the  members,  each  state  electing  only  its  own  representa 
tives.  But  this  creates  no  material  distinction.  When 
chosen,  they  are  all  representatives  of  the  United  States, 
VOL.  ir.  19 


218  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

not  representatives  of  the  particular  state  from  which 
they  come.  They  are  paid  by  the  United  States,  not  by 
the  state,  nor  are  they  accountable  to  it  for  any  act  done 
in  the  performance  of  their  legislative  functions ;  and 
however  they  may  in  practice,  as  it  is  their  duty  to  do, 
consult  and  prefer  the  interests  of  their  particular  con 
stituents,  when  they  come  in  conflict  with  any  other  par 
tial  or  local  interest,  yet  it  is  their  first  and  highest  duty, 
as  representatives  of  the  United  States,  to  promote  the 
general  good. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States,  then,  forms  a 
government,  not  a  league,  and  whether  it  be  formed  by 
compact  between  the  states,  or  in  any  other  manner,  its 
character  is  the  same.  It  is  a  government  in  which  all 
the  people  are  represented,  which  operates  directly  on 
the  people  individually,  not  upon  the  states — they  retained 
all  the  power  they  did  not  grant.  But  each  state  having 
expressly  parted  with  so  many  powers,  as  to  constitute, 
jointly  with  the  other  states,  a  single  nation,  cannot  from 
that  period  possess  any  right  to  secede,  because  such  se 
cession  does  not  break  a  league,  but  destroys  the  unity 
of  a  nation,  and  any  injury  to  that  unity  is  not  only  a 
breach  which  would  result  from  the  contravention  of  a 
compact,  but  it  is  an  offence  against  the  whole  Union. 
To  say  that  any  state  may  at  pleasure  secede  from  the 
Union,  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are  not  a  nation, 
because  it  would  be  a  solecism  to  contend  that  any  part 
of  a  nation  might  dissolve  its  connection  with  the  other 
parts,  to  their  injury  or  ruin,  without  committing  any 
offence.  Secession,  like  any  other  revolutionary  act, 
may  be  morally  justified  by  the  extremity  of  oppression; 
but  to  call  it  a  constitutional  right,  is  confounding  the 
meaning  of  terms,  and  can  only  be  done  through  gross 
error,  or  to  deceive  those  who  are  willing  to  assert  a 
right,  but  would  pause  before  they  make  a  revolution,  or 
incur  the  penalties  consequent  on  a  failure. 

Because  the  Union  was  formed  by  compact,  it  is  said 
the  parties  to  that  compact  may,  when  they  feel  them 
selves  aggrieved,  depart  from  it ;  but  it  is  precisely  be 
cause  it  is  a  compact  that  they  cannot.  A  compact  is  an 
agreement  or  binding  obligation.  It  may  by  its  terms 


219 

have  a  sanction  or  penalty  for  its  breach,  or  it  may  not. 
If  it  contains  no  sanction,  it  may  be  broken  with  no 
other  consequence  than  moral  guilt ;  if  it  have  a  sanction, 
then  the  breach  incurs  the  designated  or  implied  penalty. 
A  league  between  independent  nations,  generally,  has  no 
sanction  other  than  a  moral  one ;  or  if  it  should  contain 
a  penalty,  as  there  is  no  common  superior,  it  cannot  be 
enforced.  A  government,  on  the  contrary,  always  has  a 
sanction  express  or  implied,  and  in  our  case  it  is  both  ne 
cessarily  implied  and  expressly  given.  An  attempt  by  force 
of  arms  to  destroy  a  government,  is  an  offence,  by  whatever 
means  the  constitutional  compact  may  have  been  formed; 
and  such  government  has  the  right,  by  the  law  of  self- 
defence,  to  pass  acts  for  punishing  the  offender,  unless 
that  right  is  modified,  restrained,  or  resumed  by  the  con 
stitutional  act.  In  our  system,  although  it  is  modified  in 
the  case  of  treason,  yet  authority  is  expressly  given  to 
pass  all  laws  necessary  to  carry  its  powers  into  effect, 
and  under  this  grant  provision  has  been  made  for  punish 
ing  acts  which  obstruct  the  due  administration  of  the 
laws. 

It  would  seem  superfluous  to  add  any  thing  to  show  the 
nature  of  that  union  which  connects  us  ;  but  as  erroneous 
opinions  on  this  subject  are  the  foundation  of  doctrines 
the  most  destructive  to  our  peace,  I  must  give  some  fur 
ther  development  to  my  views  on  this  subject.  No  one, 
fellow-citizens,  has  a  higher  reverence  for  the  reserved 
rights  of  the  states  than  the  magistrate  who  now  address 
es  you.  No  one  would  make  greater  personal  sacrifices, 
or  official  exertions,  to  defend  them  from  violation,  but 
equal  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  on  their  part  an  im 
proper  interference  with,  or  resumption  of,  the  rights  they 
have  vested  in  the  nation.  The  line  has  not  been  so 
distinctly  drawn  as  to  avoid  doubts  in  some  cases  of 
the  exercise  of  power.  Men  of  the  best  intentions  and 
soundest  views  may  differ  in  their  construction  of  some 
parts  of  the  constitution ;  but  there  are  others  on  which 
dispassionate  reflection  can  leave  no  doubt.  Of  this 
nature  appears  to  be  the  assumed  right  of  secession.  It 
rests,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  alleged  undivided  sovereign 
ty  of  the  states,  and  on  their  having  formed  in  this  sove- 


220  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

reign  capacity  a  compact  which  is  called  the  constitu 
tion,  from  which,  because  they  made  it,  they  have  the 
right  to  secede.  Both  of  these  positions  are  erroneous, 
and  some  of  the  arguments  to  prove  them  so  have  been 
anticipated. 

The  states  severally  have  not  retained  their  entire  sove 
reignty.  It  has  been  shown  that  in  becoming  parts  of  a 
nation  not  members  of  a  league,  they  surrendered  many 
of  their  essential  parts  of  sovereignty.  The  right  to 
make  treaties,  declare  war,  levy  taxes,  exercise  exclusive 
judicial  and  legislative  powers,  were  all  of  them  func 
tions  of  sovereign  power.  The  states,  then,  for  all  these 
important  purposes,  were  no  longer  sovereign.  The  al 
legiance  of  their  citizens  was  transferred,  in  the  first  in 
stance,  to  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  they 
became  American  citizens,  and  owed  obedience  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to  laws  made  in 
conformity  with  powers  vested  in  Congress.  This  last  po 
sition  has  not  been,  and  cannot  be  denied.  How  then  can 
that  state  be  said  to  be  sovereign  and  independent,  whose 
citizens  owe  obedience  to  laws  not  made  by  it,  and  whose 
magistrates  are  sworn  to  disregard  those  laws,  when  they 
come  in  conflict  with  those  passed  by  another  ?  What 
shows  conclusively  that  the  states  cannot  be  said  to  have 
reserved  an  undivided  sovereignty  is,  that  they  expressly 
ceded  the  right  to  punish  treason,  not  treason  against 
their  separate  power,  but  treason  against  the  United 
States.  Treason  is  an  offence  against  sovereignty,  and 
sovereignty  must  reside  with  the  power  to  punish  it.  But 
the  reserved  rights  of  the  states  are  not  the  less  sacred  be 
cause  they  have,  for  the  common  interest,  made  the  gene 
ral  government  the  depository  of  these  powers.  The 
unity  of  our  political  character  (as  has  been  shown  for 
another  purpose)  commenced  with  its  very  existence. 
Under  the  royal  government  we  had  no  separate  charac 
ter  ;  our  opposition  to  its  oppressions  began  as  United 
Colonies.  We  were  the  United  States  under  the  confe 
deration,  and  the  name  was  perpetuated  and  the  union 
rendered  more  perfect  by  the  federal  constitution.  In 
none  of  these  stages  did  we  consider  ourselves  in  any 
other  light  than  as  forming  one  nation.  Treaties  and  aj* 


JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION.  221 

liances  were  made  in  the  name  of  all.  Troops  were 
raised  for  the  joint  defence.  How,  then,  with  all  these 
proofs,  that  under  all  changes  of  our  position  we  had,  for 
designated  purposes,  and  with  denned  powers,  created  na 
tional  governments ;  how  is  it  that  the  most  perfect  of 
those  several  modes  of  union,  should  now  be  considered 
as  a  mere  league  that  may  be  dissolved  at  pleasure  ?  It 
is  from  an  abuse  of  terms.  Compact  is  used  as  synony 
mous  with  league,  although  the  true  term  is  not  employed, 
because  it  would  at  once  show  the  fallacy  of  the  reason 
ing.  It  would  not  do  to  say  that  our  constitution  was 
only  a  league,  but  it  is  labored  to  prove  it  a  compact, 
(which,  in  one  sense,  it  is,)  and  then  to  argue  that  as  a 
league  is  a  compact,  every  compact  between  nations  must 
of  course  be  a  league,  and  that  from  such  an  engagement 
every  sovereign  power  has  a  right  to  recede.  But  it  has 
been  shown  that  in  this  sense  the  states  are  not  sovereign, 
and  that  even  if  they  were,  and  the  national  constitution 
had  been  formed  by  compact,  there  would  be  no  right  in 
any  one  state  to  exonerate  itself  from  its  obligations. 

So  obvious  are  the  reasons  which  forbid  this  secession, 
that  it  is  necessary  only  to  allude  to  them.  The  union 
was  formed  for  the  benefit  of  all.  It  was  produced  by 
mutual  sacrifices  of  interests  and  opinions.  Can  those 
sacrifices  be  recalled  1  Can  the  states  who  magnani 
mously  surrendered  their  title  to  the  territories  of  the 
west  recall  the  grant  ?  Will  the  inhabitants  of  the  in 
land  states  agree  to  pay  the  duties  that  may  be  imposed 
without  their  assent  by  those  on  the  Atlantic  or  the  Gulf, 
for  their  own  benefit  ?  Shall  there  be  a  free  port  in  one 
state,  and  onerous  duties  in  another  ?  No  one  believes 
that  any  right  exists  in  a  single  state  to  involve  all  the 
others  in  these  and  countless  other  evils  contrary  to  en 
gagements  solemnly  made.  Every  one  must  see  that  the 
other  states,  in  self-defence,  must  oppose  it  at  all  hazards. 

These  are  the  alternatives  that  are  presented  by  the 
convention  :  a  repeal  of  all  the  acts  for  raising  revenue, 
leaving  the  government  without  the  means  of  support :  or 
an  acquiescence  in  the  dissolution  of  our  Union  by  the 
secession  of  one  of  its  members.  When  the  first  was 
proposed,  it  was  known  that  it  could  not  be  listened  to 

VOL.  II.  19* 


222  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

for  a  moment.  It  was  known,  if  force  was  applied  to  op 
pose  the  execution  of  the  laws,  that  it  must  be  repelled  by 
force — that  Congress  could  not,  without  involving  itself 
in  disgrace  and  the  country  in  ruin,  accede  to  the  propo 
sition  :  and  yet  if  this  is  done  in  a  given  day,  or  if  any 
attempt  is  made  to  execute  the  laws,  the  state  is,  by  the 
ordinance,  declared  to  be  out  of  the  Union.  The  majo 
rity  of  a  convention  assembled  for  the  purpose,  have  dic 
tated  these  terms,  or  rather  its  rejection  of  all  terms,  in 
the  name  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina.  It  is  true 
that  the  governor  of  that  state  speaks  of  the  submission 
of  their  grievances  to  a  convention  of  all  the  states  ; 
which  he  says  they  "  sincerely  and  anxiously  seek  and 
desire."  Yet  this  obvious  and  constitutional  mode  of  ob 
taining  the  sense  of  the  other  states  on  the  construction 
of  the  federal  compact,  arid  amending  it  if  necessary, 
has  never  been  attempted  by  those  who  have  urged  the 
state  on  to  this  destructive  measure.  The  state  might 
have  proposed  the  call  for  a  general  convention  to  the 
other  states;  and  Congress,  if  a  sufficient  number  of 
them  concurred,  must  have  called  it.  But  the  first  ma 
gistrate  of  South  Carolina,  when  he  expressed  a  hope 
that,  "  on  a  review  by  Congress  and  the  functionaries  of 
the  general  government  of  the  merits  of  the  controver 
sy,"  such  a  convention  will  be  accorded  to  them,  must 
have  known  that  neither  Congress  nor  any  functionary 
of  the  general  government  has  authority  to  call  such  a 
convention,  unless  it  be  demanded  by  two  thirds  of  the 
states.  This  suggestion,  then,  is  another  instance  of  the 
reckless  inattention  to  the  provision  of  the  constitution 
with  which  this  crisis  has  been  madly  hurried  on  ;  or  of 
the  attempt  to  persuade  the  people  that  a  constitutional 
remedy  had  been  sought  and  refused.  If  the  legislature 
of  South  Carolina  "  anxiously  desire"  a  general  conven 
tion  to  consider  their  complaints,  why  have  they  not  made 
application  for  it  in  the  way  the  constitution  points  out? 
The  assertion  that  they  "  earnestly  seek"  it,  is  complete 
ly  negatived  by  the  omission. 

This,  then,  is  the  position  in  which  we  stand.  A  small 
majority  of  the  citizens  of  one  state  in  the  Union  have 
elected  delegates  to  a  state  convention  ;  that  convention 


223 

has  ordained  that  all  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United 
States  must  be  repealed,  or  that  they  are  no  longer  a 
member  of  the  Union.  The  governor  of  the  state  has 
recommended  to  the  legislature  the  raising  of  an  army  to 
carry  the  secession  into  effect,  and  that  he  may  be  em 
powered  to  give  clearances  to  vessels  in  the  name  of  the 
state.  No  act  of  violent  opposition  to  the  laws  has  yet 
been  committed,  but  such  a  state  of  things  is  hourly  ap 
prehended,  and  it  is  the  intent  of  this  instrument  to  PRO 
CLAIM  not  only  the  duty  imposed  on  me  by  the  constitu 
tion  "  to  take  care  that  the  laws  he  faithfully  executed," 
shall  be  performed  to  the  extent  of  the  powers  already 
vested  in  me  by  law,  or  of  such  others  as  the  wisdom  of 
Congress  shall  devise  and  entrust  to  me  for  that  purpose ; 
but  to  warn  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  who  have  been 
deluded  into  an  opposition  to  the  laws,  of  the  danger 
they  will  incur  by  obedience  to  the  illegal  and  disorgani 
zing  ordinance  of  the  convention — to  exhort  those  who 
have  refused  to  support  it  to  persevere  in  their  determi 
nation  to  uphold  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of  their 
country — and  to  point  out  to  all,  the  perilous  situation 
into  which  the  good  people  of  the  state  have  been  led — 
and  that  the  course  they  are  urged  to  pursue  is  one  of 
ruin  and  disgrace  to  the  very  state  whose  rights  they  af 
fect  to  support. 

Fellow-citizens  of  my  native  state  ! — let  me  not  only 
admonish  you,  as  the  first  magistrate  of  our  common 
country,  not  to  incur  the  penalty  of  its  laws,  but  use  the 
influence  that  a  father  would  over  his  children  whom  he 
saw  rushing  to  certain  ruin.  In  that  paternal  language, 
with  that  paternal  feeling,  let  me  tell  you,  my  country 
men,  that  you  are  deluded  by  men  who  are  either  de 
ceived  themselves,  or  wish  to  deceive  you.  Mark  under 
what  pretences  you  have  been  led  on  to  the  brink  of 
insurrection  and  treason,  on  which  you  stand.  First,  a 
diminution  of  the  value  of  your  staple  commodity,  low 
ered  by  over-production  in  other  quarters,  and  the  con 
sequent  diminution  in  the  value  of  your  lands,  were  the 
sole  effect  of  the  tariff  laws.  The  effect  of  those  laws 
was  confessedly  injurious  ;  but  the  evil  was  greatly  exag 
gerated  by  the  unfounded  theory  you  were  taught  to 


224  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

believe,  that  its  burdens  were  in  proportion  to  your  ex 
ports,  not  to  your  consumption  of  imported  articles. 
Your  pride  was  roused  by  the  assertion  that  a  submission 
to  those  laws  was  a  state  of  vassalage,  and  that  resistance 
to  them  was  equal,  in  patriotic  merit,  to  the  opposition 
our  fathers  offered  to  the  oppressive  laws  of  Great  Bri 
tain.  You  were  told  that  this  opposition  might  be  peace 
ably — might  be  constitutionally  made ;  that  you  might 
enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  the  Union,  and  bear  none  of 
its  burdens.  Eloquent  appeals  to  your  passions,  to  your 
state  pride,  to  your  native  courage,  to  your  sense  of  real 
injury,  were  used  to  prepare  you  for  the  period  when  the 
mask  which  concealed  the  hideous  feature  of  DISUNION 
should  be  taken  off.  It  fell,  and  you  were  made  to  look 
with  complacency  on  objects  which  not  long  since  you 
would  have  regarded  with  horror.  Look  back  to  the 
arts  which  have  brought  you  to  this  state — look  forward 
to  the  consequences  to  which  it  must  inevitably  lead  ! 
Look  back  to  what  was  first  told  you  as  an  inducement 
to  enter  into  this  dangerous  course.  The  great  political 
truth  was  repeated  to  you,  that  you  had  the  revolutionary 
gift  of  resisting  all  laws  that  were  palpably  unconstitu 
tional  and  intolerably  oppressive.  It  was  added  that  the 
right  to  nullify  a  law  rested  oh  the  same  principle,  but 
that  it  was  a  peaceable  remedy  !  This  character  which 
was  given  to  it,  made  you  receive  with  too  much  confi 
dence  the  assertions  that  were  made  of  the  unconstitu 
tionally  of  the  law,  and  its  oppressive  effects.  Mark, 
my  fellow-citizens,  that  by  the  admission  of  your  leaders 
the  unconstitutionality  must  be  palpable,  or  it  will  not 
justify  either  resistance  or  nullification !  What  is  the 
meaning  of  the  word  palpable,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is 
here  used? — that  which  is  apparent  to  every  one,  that 
which  no  man  of  ordinary  intellect  will  fail  to  perceive. 
Is  the  unconstitutionality  of  these  laws  of  that  descrip 
tion?  Let  those  among  your  leaders  who  once  approved 
and  advocated  the  principle  of  protective  duties,  answer 
the  question  ;  and  let  them  choose  whether  they  will  be 
considered  as  incapable,  then,  of  perceiving  that  which 
must  have  been  apparent  to  every  man  of  common  un 
derstanding,  or  as  imposing  upon  your  confidence,  and 


225 

endeavoring  to  mislead  you  now.  In  either  case,  they 
are  unsafe  guides  in  the  perilous  path  they  urge  you  to 
tread.  Ponder  well  on  this  circumstance,  and  you  will 
know  how  to  appreciate  the  exaggerated  language  they 
address  to  you.  They  are  not  champions  of  liberty,  emu 
lating  the  fame  of  our  revolutionary  fathers,  nor  are  you 
an  oppressed  people  contending,  as  they  repeat  to  you, 
against  worse  than  colonial  vassalage. 

You  are  free  members  of  a  flourishing  and  happy 
Union.  There  is  no  settled  design  to  oppress  you.  You 
have  indeed  felt  the  unequal  operation  of  laws  which  may 
have  been  unwisely,  not  unconstitutionally  passed,  but 
that  inequality  must  necessarily  be  removed.  At  the 
very  moment  when  you  were  madly  urged  on  to  the  un 
fortunate  course  you  have  begun,  a  change  in  public 
opinion  had  commenced.  The  nearly  approaching  pay 
ment  of  the  public  debt,  and  the  consequent  necessity 
of  a  diminution  of  duties,  had  already  produced  a  con 
siderable  reduction,  and  that,  too,  on  some  articles  of 
general  consumption  in  your  state.  The  importance  of 
this  change  was  underrated,  and  you  were  authoritatively 
told  that  no  further  alleviation  of  your  burdens  was  to  be 
expected  at  the  very  time  when  the  condition  of  the 
country  imperiously  demanded  such  a  modification  of  the 
duties  as  should  reduce  them  to  a  just  and  equitable  scale. 
But,  as  if  apprehensive  of  the  effect  of  this  change,  in 
allaying  your  discontents,  you  were  precipitated  into  the 
fearful  state  in  which  you  now  find  yourselves. 

I  have  urged  you  tcr  look  back  to  the  means  that  were 
used  to  hurry  you  on  to  the  position  you  have  now  as 
sumed,  and  forward  to  the  consequences  it  will  produce. 
Something  more  is  necessary.  Contemplate  the  condition 
of  that  country  of  which  you  still  form  an  important 
part !  Consider  its  government  uniting  in  one  bond  of 
common  interest  and  general  protection  so  many  different 
states — giving  to  their  inhabitants  the  proud  title  of  Ame 
rican  citizen,  protecting  their  commerce,  securing  their 
literature  and  their  arts,  facilitating  their  intercommuni 
cation,  defending  the  frontiers,  and  making  their  names 
respected  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth  !  Consider 
the  extent  of  its  territory,  its  increasing  and  happy  popu- 


226  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

lation,  its  advance  in  arts,  which  render  life  agreeable, 
and  the  sciences  which  elevate  the  mind  !  See  educa 
tion  spreading  the  lights  of  religion,  morality,  and  general 
information  into  every  cottage  in  this  wide  extent  of  our 
territories  and  states!  Behold  it  as  the  asylum  where 
the  wretched  and  the  oppressed  find  a  refuge  and  support ! 
Look  on  this  picture  of  happiness  and  honor,  and  say, 
WE,  TOO,  ARE  CITIZENS  OF  AMERICA — Carolina  is  one 
of  these  proud  states,  her  arms  have  defended,  her  best 
blood  has  cemented  this  happy  Union  !  And  then  add, 
if  you  can,  without  horror  and  remorse,  this  happy  Union 
we  will  dissolve,  this  picture  of  peace  and  prosperity  we 
will  deface,  this  free  intercourse  we  will  interrupt,  these 
fertile  fields  we  will  deluge  with  blood,  the  protection  of 
that  glorious  flag  we  renounce,  the  very  name  of  Ameri 
cans  we  discard.  And  for  what,  mistaken  men?  for 
what  do  you  throw  away  these  inestimable  blessings  1  for 
what  would  you  exchange  your  share  in  the  advantages 
and  honor  of  the  Union  ?  For  the  dream  of  a  separate 
independence — a  dream  interrupted  by  bloody  conflicts 
with  your  neighbors,  and  a  vile  dependence  on  foreign 
power.  If  your  leaders  could  succeed  in  establishing  a 
separation,  what  would  be  your  situation  1  Are  you 
united  at  home — are  you  free  from  apprehension  of  civil 
discord,  with  all  its  fearful  consequences  1  Do  our 
neighboring  republics,  every  day  suffering  some  new 
revolution,  or  contending  with  some  new  insurrection — 
do  they  excite  your  envy  ?  But  the  dictates  of  a  high 
duty  oblige  me  solemnly  to  announce  that  you  cannot 
succeed.  The  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be  execut 
ed.  I  have  no  discretionary  power  on  the  subject ;  my 
duty  is  emphatically  pronounced  in  the  constitution. 
Those  who  told  you  that  you  might  peaceably  prevent 
their  execution  deceived  you  ;  they  could  not  have  been 
deceived  themselves.  They  know  that  a  forcible  opposi 
tion  could  alone  prevent  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and 
they  know  that  such  opposition  must  be  repelled.  Their 
object  is  disunion  :  but  be  not  deceived  by  names  ;  dis 
union,  by  armed  force,  is  treason.  Are  you  really  ready 
to  incur  its  guilt  ?  If  you  are,  on  the  heads  of  the  insti 
gators  of  the  act  be  the  dreadful  consequences.  On 


JACKSON'S  PROCLAMATION.  227 

their  heads  be  the  dishonor,  but  on  yours  may  fall  the 
punishment.  On  your  unhappy  state  will  inevitably  fall 
all  the  evils  of  the  conflict  you  force  upon  the  govern 
ment  of  your  country.  It  cannot  accede  to  the  mad 
project  of  disunion,  of  which  you  would  be  the  first 
victims.  Its  first  magistrate  cannot,  if  he  would,  avoid 
the  performance  of  his  duty.  The  consequence  must 
be  fearful  for  you,  distressing  to  your  fellow-citizens  here, 
and  to  the  friends  of  good  government  throughout  the 
world.  Its  enemies  have  beheld  our  prosperity  with  a 
vexation  they  could  not  conceal.  It  was  a  standing  refu 
tation  of  their  slavish  doctrines,  and  they  will  point  to 
our  discord  with  the  triumph  of  malignant  joy.  It  is 
yet  in  your  power  to  disappoint  them.  There  is  yet  time 
to  show  that  the  descendants  of  the  Pirickneys,  the 
Sumpters,  the  Rutledges,  and  of  the  thousand  other 
names  which  adorn  the  pages  of  your  revolutionary  his 
tory,  will  not  abandon  that  Union,  to  support  which  so 
many  of  them  fought,  and  bled,  and  died.  I  adjure  you, 
as  you  honor  their  memory,  as  you  love  the  cause  of 
freedom,  to  which  they  dedicated  their  lives,  as  you  prize 
the  peace  of  your  country,  the  lives  of  its  best  citizens, 
and  your  own  fair  fame,  to  retrace  your  steps.  Snatch 
from  the  archives  of  your  state  the  disorganizing  edicts 
of  its  convention  ;  bid  its  members  to  re-assemble,  and 
promulgate  the  decided  expressions  of  your  will  to  remain 
in  the  path  which  alone  can  conduct  you  to  safety,  pros 
perity,  and  honor.  Tell  them  that,  compared  to  disu 
nion,  all  other  evils  are  light,  because  that  brings  with  it 
an  accumulation  of  all.  Declare  that  you  will  never 
take  the  field  unless  the  star-spangled  banner  of  your 
country  shall  float  over  you ;  that  you  will  not  be  stigma 
tized  when  dead,  and  dishonored  and  scorned  while  you 
live,  as  the  authors  of  the  first  attack  on  the  constitution 
of  your  country  !  Its  destroyers  you  cannot  be.  You 
may  disturb  its  peace,  you  may  interrupt  the  course  of  its 
prosperity,  you  may  cloud  its  reputation  for  stability;  but 
its  tranquillity  will  be  restored,  its  prosperity  will  return, 
and  the  stain  upon  its  national  character  will  be  trans 
ferred,  and  remain  an  eternal  blot  on  the  memory  of 
those  who  first  caused  the  disorder. 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Fellow-citizens  of  the  United  States  !  The  threat  of 
unhallowed  disunion,  the  names  of  those  once  respected 
by  whom  it  was  uttered — the  array  of  military  force  to 
support  it — denote  the  approach  of  a  crisis  in  our  affairs 
on  which  the  continuance  of  our  unexampled  prosperity, 
our  political  existence,  and  perhaps  that  of  all  free  go 
vernments,  may  depend.  The  conjuncture  demanded  a 
free,  a  full  and  explicit  enunciation,  not  only  of  my  in 
tentions,  but  of  my  principles  of  action  ;  arid  as  the 
claim  was  asserted  of  a  right  by  a  state  to  annul  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  and  even  to  secede  from  it  at  plea 
sure,  a  frank  exposition  of  my  opinions  in  relation  to  the 
origin  and  form  of  our  government,  arid  the  construction 
I  give  to  the  instrument  by  which  it  was  created,  seemed 
to  be  proper.  Having  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  just 
ness  of  the  legal  and  constitutional  opinion  of  my  duties 
which  has  been  expressed,  I  rely  with  equal  confidence 
on  undivided  support  in  my  determination  to  execute  the 
laws — to  preserve  the  union  by  all  constitutional  means — 
to  arrest,  if  possible,  by  moderate  but  firm  measures,  the 
necessity  of  a  recourse  to  force  :  and  if  it  be  the  will  of 
Heaven  that  the  recurrence  of  its  primeval  curse  on  man 
for  the  shedding  of  a  brother's  blood  should  fall  upon  our 
land,  that  it  be  not  called  down  by  an  offensive  act  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States. 

Fellow-citizens  !  The  momentous  case  is  before  you. 
On  your  undivided  support  of  your  government  depends 
the  decision  of  the  great  question  it  involves,  whether 
your  sacred  Union  will  be  preserved,  and  the  blessing  it 
secures  to  us  as  one  people  shall  be  perpetuated.  No  one 
can  doubt  that  the  unanimity  with  which  that  decision 
will  be  expressed,  will  be  such  as  to  inspire  new  confi 
dence  in  republican  institutions,  and  that  the  prudence, 
the  wisdom  and  the  courage  which  it  will  bring  to  their 
defence,  will  transmit  them  unimpaired  and  invigorated  to 
our  children. 

May  the  great  Ruler  of  nations  grant  that  the  signal 
blessings  with  which  He  has  favored  ours,  may  not  by 
the  madness  of  party  or  personal  ambition  be  disregarded 
and  lost  :  and  may  His  wise  Providence  bring  those  who 
produced  this  crisis,  to  see  the  folly  before  they  feel  tho 


NULLIFICATION   MESSAGE.  229 

misery  of  civil  strife  ;  and  inspire  a  returning  veneration 
for  that  Union,  which,  if  we  may  dare  to  penetrate  His 
designs,  he  has  chosen  as  the  only  means  of  attaining  the 
high  destinies  to  which  we  may  reasonably  aspire 


NULLIFICATION  MESSAGE, 
JANUARY  16,  1833. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

In  my  annual  message,  at  the  commencement  of  your 
present  session,  I  adverted  to  the  opposition  to  the  reve 
nue  laws  in  a  particular  quarter  of  the  United  States, 
which  threatened  not  merely  to  thwart  their  execution, 
but  to  endanger  the  integrity  of  the  Union.  And,  al 
though  I  then  expressed  my  reliance  that  it  might  be  over 
come  by  the  prudence  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  patriotism  of  the  people,  I  stated  that,  should  the 
emergency  arise  rendering  the  execution  of  the  existing 
laws  impracticable  from  any  cause  whatever,  prompt  no 
tice  should  be  given  to  Congress,  with  the  suggestion  of 
such  views  and  measures  as  might  be  necessary  to  meet  it. 

Events  which  have  occurred  in  the  quarter  then  allu 
ded  to,  or  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge  subsequent 
ly,  present  this  emergency. 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  annual  message,  I  have  had 
officially  transmitted  to  me  by  the  governor  of  South 
Carolina,  which  I  now  communicate  to  Congress,  a  copy 
of  the  ordinance  passed  by  the  convention  which  assem 
bled  at  Columbia,  in  the  state  of  South  Carolina,  in  No 
vember  last,  declaring  certain  acts  of  Congress  therein 
mentioned,  within  the  limits  of  that  state  to  be  absolute 
ly  null  and  void,  and  making  it  the  duty  of  the  legisla 
ture  to  pass  such  laws  as  would  be  necessary  to  carry  the 
same  into  effect  from  and  after  the  first  of  February  next. 

The  consequences  to  which    this  extraordinary  defi 
ance  of  the  just   authority  of  the  government  might  too 
surely  lead,  were  clearly  foreseen,   and  it  was  impossible 
VOL.  n.         20 


230  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

for  me  to  hesitate  as  to  my  own  duty  in  such  an  emer 
gency. 

The  ordinance  had  been  passed,  however,  without  any 
certain  knowledge  of  the  recommendation  which,  from  a 
view  of  the  interests  of  the  nation  at  large,  the  execu 
tive  had  determined  to  submit  to  Congress  :  and  a  hope 
was  indulged  that,  by  frankly  explaining  his  sentiments, 
and  the  nature  of  those  duties  which  the  crisis  would 
devolve  upon  him,  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina 
might  be  induced  to  retrace  their  steps.  In  this  hope,  I 
determined  to  issue  my  proclamation  of  the  10th  Decem 
ber  last,  a  copy  of  which  I  now  lay  before  Congress. 

I  regret  to  inform  you  that  these  reasonable  expecta 
tions  have  not  been  realized,  and  that  the  several  acts  of 
the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  which  I  now  lay  be 
fore  you,  and  which  have  all  and  each  of  them  finally 
passed,  after  a  knowledge  of  the  desire  of  the  adminis 
tration  to  modify  the  laws  complained  of,  are  too  well 
calculated,  both  in  their  positive  enactments  and  in  the 
spirit  of  opposition  which  they  obviously  encourage, 
wholly  to  obstruct  the  collection  of  the  revenue  within 
the  limits  of  that  state. 

Up  to  this  period,  neither  the  recommendation  of  the 
executive  in  regard  to  our  financial  policy  and  impost 
system,  nor  the  disposition  manifested  by  Congress 
promptly  to  act  upon  that  subject,  nor  the  unequivocal 
expression  of  the  public  will  in  all  parts  of  the  Union, 
appears  to  have  produced  any  relaxation  in  the  measures 
of  the  opposition  adopted  by  the  state  of  South  Caroli 
na  ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  to  hope  that  the  ordinance 
and  laws  will  be  abandoned. 

I  have  no  knowledge  that  an  attempt  has  been  made, 
or  that  it  is  in  contemplation,  to  re-assemble  either  the 
convention  or  the  legislature  ;  and  it  will  be  perceived 
that  the  interval  before  the  first  of  February  is  too  short 
to  admit  of  the  preliminary  steps  necessary  for  that  pur 
pose.  It  appears,  moreover,  that  the  state  authorities  are 
actively  organizing  their  military  resources,  and  provi 
ding  the  means,  and  giving  the  most  solemn  assurances 
of  protection  and  support  to  all  who  shall  enlist  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  revenue  laws. 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  231 

A  recent  proclamation  of  the  present  governor  of 
South  Carolina  has  openly  defied  the  authority  of  the  ex 
ecutive  of  the  Union,  and  general  orders  from  the  head 
quarters  of  the  state  announced  his  determination  to  ac 
cept  the  services  of  volunteers,  and  his  belief,  that  should 
their  country  need  their  services,  they  will  be  found  at 
the  post  of  honor  and  duty,  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives 
in  her  defence.  Under  these  orders,  the  forces  referred 
to,  are  directed  to  "  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  take 
the  field  at  a  moment's  warning  ;"  and  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  within  a  collection  district  and  a  port  of  en 
try,  a  rendezvous  has  been  opened  for  the  purpose  of  en 
listing  men  for  the  magazine  and  municipal  guard.  Thus 
South  Carolina  presents  herself  in  the  attitude  of  hostile 
preparation,  and  ready  even  for  military  violence,  if  need 
be,  to  enforce  her  laws  for  preventing  the  collection  of 
the  duties  within  her  limits. 

Proceedings  thus  announced  and  matured  must  be  dis 
tinguished  from  menaces  of  unlawful  resistance  by  irre 
gular  bodies  of  people,  who,  acting  under  temporary  de 
lusion,  may  be  restrained  by  reflection  and  the  influence 
of  public  opinion,  from  the  commission  of  actual  out 
rage.  In  the  present  instance,  aggression  may  be  re 
garded  as  committed  when  it  is  officially  authorized,  and 
the  means  of  enforcing  it  fully  provided. 

Under  these  circumstances,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
it  is  the  determination  of  the  authorities  of  South  Caro 
lina  fully  to  carry  into  effect  their  ordinance  and  laws 
after  the  first  of  February.  It  therefore  becomes  my 
duty  to  bring  the  subject  to  the  serious  consideration  of 
Congress,  in  order  that  such  measures  as  they  in  their 
wisdom  may  deem  fit,  shall  be  seasonably  provided  ;  and 
that  it  may  be  thereby  understood  that,  while  the  govern 
ment  is  disposed  to  remove  all  just  cause  of  complaint,  as 
far  as  may  be  practicable  consistently  with  a  proper  regard 
to  the  interests  of  the  community  at  large,  it  is  neverthe 
less  determined  that  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  shall  be 
maintained. 

In  making  this  communication,  it  appears  to  me  to  be 
proper  not  only  that  I  should  lay  before  you  the  acts  and 
proceedings  of  South  Carolina,  but  that  I  should  also 


23*2  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

fully  acquaint  you  with  those  steps  which  I  have  already 
caused  to  be  taken  for  the  due  collection  of  the  revenue, 
and  with  my  views  of  the  subject  generally,  that  the  sug 
gestions  which  the  constitution  requires  me  to  make,  in 
regard  to  your  future  legislation,  may  be  better  under 
stood. 

This  subject  having  early  attracted  the  anxious  atten 
tion  of  the  executive,  as  soon  as  it  was  probable  that  the 
authorities  of  South  Carolina  seriously  meditated  resist 
ance  to  the  faithful  execution  of  the  revenue  laws,  it  was 
deemed  advisable  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  should 
particularly  instruct  the  officers  of  the  United  States  in 
that  part  of  the  Union  as  to  the  nature  of  the  duties  pre 
scribed  by  the  existing  laws. 

Instructions  were  accordingly  issued  on  the  6th  of  No 
vember,  to  the  collectors  in  that  state,  pointing  out  their 
respective  duties,  and  enjoining  upon  each  a  firm  and  vi 
gilant,  but  discreet  performance  of  them  in  the  emergen 
cy  then  apprehended. 

I  herewith  transmit  copies  of  these  instructions,  and 
of  the  letter  addressed  to  the  district  attorney  requesting 
his  co-operation.  These  instructions  were  dictated  in 
.the  hope  that,  as  the  opposition  to  the  laws  by  ther  anoma 
lous  proceeding  of  nullification  was  represented  to  be  of 
a  pacific  nature,  to  be  pursued,  substantially,  according 
to  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  and  without  resorting,  in 
any  event,  to  force  or  violence,  the  measures  of  its  advo 
cates  would  be  taken  in  conformity  with  that  profession  ; 
and  on  such  supposition,  the  means  afforded  by  the  exist 
ing  laws  would  have  been  adequate  to  meet  any  emergen 
cy  likely  to  arise. 

It  was,  however,  not  possible  altogether  to  suppress  ap 
prehension  of  the  excesses  to  which  the  excitement  pre 
vailing  in  that  quarter  might  lead;  but  it  certainly  was 
not  foreseen  that  the  meditated  obstruction  to  the  laws 
would  so  soon  openly  assume  its  present  character. 

Subsequently  to  the  date  of  those  instructions,  how 
ever,  the  ordinance  of  the  convention  was  passed,  which, 
if  complied  with  by  the  people  of  the  state,  must  effectu 
ally  render  inoperative  the  present  revenue  laws  within 
her  limits. 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  233 

That  ordinance  declares  and  ordains  "  that  the  several 
acts,  and  parts  of  acts,  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  purporting  to  be  laws  for  the  imposing  of  duties 
and  imposts  on  the  importation  of  foreign  commodities, 
and  now  having  operation  and  effect  within  the  United 
States ;"  and,  more  especially,  "An  act  in  alteration  of  the 
several  acts  imposing  duties  on  imports,"  approved  on  the 
19th  of  May,  1828  ;  and  also  an  act  entitled  "An  act  to 
alter  and  amend  the  several  acts  imposing  duties  on  im 
ports,"  approved  on  the  14th  of  July,  1832,  are  unautho 
rized  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  vio 
late  the  true  intent  and  meaning  thereof,  and  are  null  and 
void,  and  no  law,  nor  binding  upon  the  state  of  South 
Carolina,  its  officers  and  citizens ;  and  all  promises,  con 
tracts,  and  obligations,  made  or  entered  into,  or  to  be 
made  or  entered  into,  with  purpose  to  secure  the  duties 
imposed  by  the  said  acts,  and  all  judicial  proceedings 
which  shall  be  hereafter  had  in  affirmance  thereof,  are 
and  shall  be  held  utterly  null  and  -void." 

It  also  ordains,  "  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  of 
the  constituted  authorities,  whether  of  the  state  of  South 
Carolina,  or  of  the  United  States,  to  enforce  the  payment 
of  duties  imposed  by  the  said  acts  within  the  limits  of 
the  state,  but  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to 
adopt  such  measures,  and  pass  such  acts,  as  may  be  ne 
cessary  to  give  full  effect  to  this  ordinance,  and  to  pre 
vent  the  enforcement  and  arrest  the  operation  of  the  said 
acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  within  the  limits  of  the  state,  from  and  after  the 
1st  of  February  next ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  all 
other  constituted  authorities,  and  of  all  other  persons  re 
siding  or  being  within  the  limits  of  the  state,  and  they 
are  hereby  required  and  enjoined  to  obey  and  give  effect 
to  this  ordinance,  and  such  acts  and  measures  of  the  le 
gislature  as  may  be  passed  or  adopted  in  obedience 
thereto." 

It  further  ordains,  "  that  in  no  case  of  law  or  equity, 
decided  in  the  courts  of  the  state,  wherein  shall  be  drawn 
in  question  the  authority  of  this  ordinance,  or  the  validity 
of  such  act  or  acts  of  the  legislature  as  may  be  passed 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  effect  thereto,  or  the  validity  of 
VOL.  u.  20* 


234  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  aforesaid  acts  of  Congress  imposing  duties,  shall  any 
appeal  be  taken  or  allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  nor  shall  any  copy  of  the  record  be  per 
mitted  or  allowed  for  that  purpose ;  and  the  person  or 
persons  attempting  to  take  such  appeal  may  be  dealt  with 
as  for  a  contempt  of  court." 

It  likewise  ordains,  "  that  all  persons  holding  any  office 
of  honor,  profit,  or  trust,  civil  or  military,  under  the 
state,  shall,  within  such  time  and  in  such  manner  as  the 
legislature  shall  prescribe,  take  an  oath  well  and  truly  to 
obey,  execute  and  enforce  this  ordinance,  and  such  act 
or  acts  of  the  legislature  as  may  be  passed  in  pursuance 
thereof,  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the 
same ;  and  on  the  neglect  or  omission  of  any  such  person 
or  persons  so  to  do,  his  or  their  office  or  offices  shall  be 
forthwith  vacated,  and  shall  be  filled  up  as  if  such  person 
or  persons  were  dead  or  had  resigned  ;  and  no  person  here 
after  elected  to  any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or  trust,  civil  or 
military,  shall,  until  the  legislature  shall  otherwise  pro 
vide  and  direct,  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  or 
be,  in  any  respect,  competent  to  discharge  the  duties 
thereof,  until  he  shall,  in  like  manner,  have  taken  a  simi 
lar  oath  ;  and  no  juror  shall  be  impannelled  in  any  of  the 
courts  of  the  state,  on  any  cause  in  which  shall  be  in  ques 
tion  this  ordinance,  or  any  act  of 'the  legislature  passed 
in  pursuance  thereof,  unless  he  shall  first,  in  addition  to 
the  usual  oath,  have  taken  an  oath  that  he  will  well  and 
truly  obey,  execute  and  enforce  this  ordinance,  and  such 
act  or  acts  of  the  legislature  as  may  be  passed  to  carry 
the  same  into  operation  and  effect,  according  to  the  true 
intent  and  meaning  thereof." 

The  ordinance  concludes  :  "  And  we,  the  people  of 
South  Carolina,  to  the  end  that  it  may  be  fully  understood 
by  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  the  people 
of  the  co-states,  that  we  are  determined  to  maintain  this 
ordinance  and  declaration  at  every  hazard,  do  further 
declare  that  we  will  not  submit  to  the  application  offeree 
on  the  part  of  the  federal  government  to  reduce  the  state 
to  obedience ;  but  that  we  will  consider  the  passage  by 
Congress  of  any  act  authorizing  the  employment  of  a 
military  or  naval  force  against  the  state  of  South  Caro- 


NULLIFICATION   MESSAGE.  235 

lina,  her  constituted  authorities  or  citizens,  or  any  act 
abolishing^  or  closing  the  ports  of  this  state,  or  any  of 
them,  or  otherwise  obstructing  the  free  ingress  and  egress 
of  vessels  to  and  from  the  said  ports ;  or  any  other  act 
on  the  part  of  the  federal  government  to  coerce  the  state, 
shut  up  her  ports,  destroy  or  harass  her  commerce,  or  to 
enforce  the  acts  hereby  declared  to  be  null  and  void, 
otherwise  than  through  the  civil  tribunals  of  the  country, 
as  inconsistent  with  the  longer  continuance  of  South 
Carolina  in  the  Union ;  and  that  the  people  of  this  state 
will  thenceforth  hold  themselves  absolved  from  all  further 
obligation  to  maintain  or  preserve  their  political  connec 
tion  with  the  people  of  the  other  states,  and  will  forthwith 
proceed  to  organize  a  separate  government,  and  do  all 
other  acts  and  things  which  sovereign  and  independent 
states  may  of  right  do." 

This  solemn  denunciation  of  the  laws  and  authority  of 
the  United  States  has  been  followed  up  by  a  series  of  acts 
on  the  part  of  the  authorities  of  that  state,  which  mani 
fest  a  determination  to  render  inevitable  a  resort  to  those 
measures  of  self-defence,  which  the  paramount  duty  of 
the  federal  government  requires ;  but  upon  the  adoption 
of  which  that  state  will  proceed  to  execute  the  purpose  it 
has  avowed  in  this  ordinance,  of  withdrawing  from  the 
Union. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  the  legislature  assembled 
at  Columbia;  and,  on  their  meeting,  the  governor  laid 
before  them  the  ordinance  of  the  convention.  In  his 
message  on  that  occasion,  he  acquaints  them  that  "  this 
ordinance  has  thus  become  a  part  of  the  fundamental 
law  of  South  Carolina;"  that  "the  die  has  been  at  last 
cast,  and  South  Carolina  has  at  length  appealed  to  her 
ulterior  sovereignty  as  a  member  of  this  confederacy,  and 
has  planted  herself  on  her  reserved  rights.  The  rightful 
exercise  of  this  power  is  not  a  question  which  we  shall 
any  longer  argue.  It  is  sufficient  that  she  has  willed  it, 
and  that  the  act  is  done;  nor  is  its  strict  compatibility 
with  our  constitutional  obligation  to  all  laws  passed  by 
the  general  government,  within  the  authorized  grants  of 
power,  to  be  drawn  in  question,  when  this  interposition 
is  exerted  in  a  case  in  which  the  compact  has  been  pal- 


236  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

pably,  deliberately,  and  dangerously  violated.  That  it 
brings  up  a  conjuncture  of  deep  and  momentous  interest, 
is  neither  to  be  concealed  nor  denied.  This  crisis  pre 
sents  a  class  of  duties  which  is  referable  to  ourselves. 
You  have  been  commanded  by  the  people,  in  their  high 
est  sovereignty,  to  take  care  that,  within  the  limits  of  this 
state,  their  will  shall  be  obeyed." — "  The  measure  of  le 
gislation,"  he  says,  "  which  you  have  to  employ  at  this 
crisis,  is  the  precise  amount  of  such  enactments  as  may 
be  necessary  to  render  it  utterly  impossible  to  collect 
within  our  limits  the  duties  imposed  by  the  protective 
tariffs  thus  nullified."  He  proceeds  :  "  That  you  should 
arm  every  citizen  with  a  civil  process  by  which  he  may 
claim,  if  he  pleases,  a  restitution  of  his  goods  seized  un 
der  existing  imposts,  on  his  giving  security  to  abide  the 
issue  of  a  suit  at  law,  and,  at  the  same  time,  define  what 
shall  constitute  treason  against  the  state,  and,  by  a  bill 
of  pains  and  penalties,  compel  obedience,  and  punish 
disobedience  to  your  own  laws,  are  points  too  obvious  to 
require  any  discussion.  In  one  word,  you  must  survey 
the  whole  ground.  You  must  look  to  and  provide  for  all 
possible  contingencies.  In  your  own  limits,  your  own 
courts  of  judicature  must  not  only  be  supreme,  but  you 
must  look  to  the  ultimate  issue  of  any  conflict  of  juris 
diction  and  power  between  them  and  the  courts  of  the 
United  States." 

The  governor  also  asks  for  power  to  grant  clearances, 
in  violation  of  the  law's  of  the  Union ;  and  to  prepare  for 
the  alternative  which  must  happen  unless  the  United 
States  shall  passively  surrender  their  authority,  and  the 
executive,  disregarding  his  oath,  refrain  from  executing 
the  laws  of  the  Union,  he  recommends  a  thorough  revi 
sion  of  the  militia  system,  and  that  the  governor  "  be 
authorized  to  accept,  for  the  defence  of  Charleston  and 
its  dependencies,  the  services  of  two  thousand  volunteers, 
either  by  companies  or  files;"  and  that  they  be  formed 
into  a  legionary  brigade,  consisting  of  infantry,  riflemen, 
cavalry,  field  and  heavy  artillery  ;  and  that  they  be  "  armed 
and  equipped  from  the  public  arsenals  completely  for  the 
field ;  and  that  appropriations  be  made  for  supplying  a\\ 
deficiencies  in  our  munitions  of  war."  In  addition  to 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  237 

t 

these  volunteer  drafts,  he  recommends  that  the  governor 
be  authorized  "  to  accept  the  services  of  ten  thousand 
volunteers  from  the  other  division  of  the  state,  to  be  or 
ganized  and  arranged  into  regiments  and  brigades  ;  the 
officers  to  be  selected  by  the  commander-in-chief :  and 
that  this  whole  force  be  called  the  State  Guard." 

A  request  has  been  regularly  made  of  the  secretary  of 
the  state  of  South  Carolina,  for  authentic  copies  of  the 
acts  which  have  been  passed  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing 
the  ordinance;  but,  up  to  the  date  of  the  latest  advices, 
that  request  had  not  been  complied  with;  and,  on  the 
present  occasion,  therefore,  reference  can  only  be  made 
to  those  acts  as  published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  state. 

The  acts  to  which  it  is  deemed  proper  to  invite  the 
particular  attention  of  Congress,  are, 

1st.  "An  act  to  carry  into  effect,  in  part,  an  ordinance 
to  nullify  certain  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  purporting  to  be  laws  laying  duties  on  the  impor 
tation  of  foreign  commodities,"  passed  in  convention  of 
this  state,  at  Columbia,  on  the  24th  of  November,  1832. 

This  act  provides,  that  any  goods  seized  or  detained 
under  pretence  of  securing  the  duties,  or  for  the  non 
payment  of  duties,  or  under  any  process,  order  or  decree, 
or  other  pretext,  contrary  to  the  intent  and  meaning  of 
the  ordinance,  may  be  recovered  by  the  owner  or  con 
signee,  by  "  an  act  of  replevin."  That  in  case  of  refus 
ing  to  deliver  them,  or  removing  them  so  that  the  replevin 
cannot  be  executed,  the  sheriff  may  seize  the  personal 
estate  of  the  offender  to  double  the  amount  of  the  goods; 
and  if  any  attempt  shall  be  made  to  retake  or  seize  them, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  to  recapture  them.  And  that 
any  person  who  shall  disobey  the  process,  or  remove  the 
goods,  or  any  one  who  shall  attempt  to  retake  or  seize 
the  goods  under  pretence  of  securing  the  duties,  or  for 
non-payment  of  duties,  or  under  any  process  or  decree, 
contrary  to  the  intent  of  the  ordinance,  shall  be  fined  and 
imprisoned,  besides  being  liable  for  any  other  offence  in 
volved  in  the  act. 

It  also  provides  that  any  person  arrested  or  imprisoned 
on  any  judgment  or  decree  obtained  in  any  federal  court 
for  duties,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  secured  by  the 


233  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

habeas  corpus  act  of  the  state  in  cases  of  unlawful  arrest, 
and  maintain  an  action  for  damages;  and  that,  if  any 
estate  shall  be  sold  under  such  judgment  or  decree,  the 
sale  shall  be  held  illegal.  It  also  provides  that  any  jailor 
who  receives  a  person  committed  on  any  process  or  other 
judicial  proceedings  to  enforce  the  payment  of  duties, 
and  any  one  who  hires  his  house  as  a  jail,  to  receive  such 
persons,  shall  be  fined  and  imprisoned.  And,  finally,  it 
provides  that  persons  paying  duties  may  recover  them 
back  with  interest. 

The  next  is  called  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  security 
and  protection  of  the  people  of  the  state  of  South  Caro 
lina." 

This  act  provides  that  if  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  officer  thereof,  shall,  by  the  employment 
of  naval  or  military  force,  attempt  to  coerce  the  state  of 
South  Carolina  into  submission  to  the  acts  of  Congress 
declared  by  the  ordinance  null  and  void,  or  to  resist  the 
enforcement  of  the  ordinance,  or  of  the  laws  passed  in 
pursuance  thereof,  or  in  case  of  any  armed  or  forcible 
resistance  thereto,  the  governor  is  authorized  to  resist  the 
same,  and  to  order  into  service  the  whole  or  so  much  of 
the  military  force  of  the  state  as  he  may  deem  necessary; 
and  that  in  case  of  any  overt  act  of  coercion  or  intention 
to  commit  the  same,  manifested  by  an  unusual  assemblage 
of  naval  or  military  forces  in  or  near  the  state,  or  the 
occurrence  of  any  circumstances  indicating  that  armed 
force  is  about  to  be  employed  against  the  state  or  in  re 
sistance  to  its  laws,  the  governor  is  authorized  to  accept 
the  services  of  such  volunteers,  and  to  call  into  service 
such  portions  of  the  militia,  as  may  be  required  to  meet 
the  emergency. 

The  act  also  provides  for  accepting  the  service  of  the 
volunteers,  and  organizing  the  militia,  embracing  all  free 
white  males  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty,  and 
for  the  purchase  of  arms,  ordnance,  and  ammunition.  It 
also  declares  that  the  power  conferred  on  the  governor 
shall  be  applicable  to  all  cases  of  insurrection  or  invasion, 
or  imminent  danger  thereof,  and  to  cases  where  the  laws 
of  the  state  shall  be  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof 
forcibly  resisted,  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  239 

suppressed  by  the  power  vested  in  sheriffs  and  other  civil 
officers;  and  declares  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  governor, 
in  every  such  case,  to  call  forth  such  portions  of  the 
militia  and  volunteers  as  may  be  necessary  promptly  to 
suppress  such  combinations,  and  cause  the  laws  of  the 
state  to  be  executed. 

No.  9  is  "  An  act  concerning  the  oath  required  by  the 
ordinance  passed  in  convention  at  Columbia,  on  the  24th 
of  November,  1832."  This  act  prescribes  the  form  of 
the  oath,  which  is,  to  obey  and  execute  the  ordinance  and 
all  acts  passed  by  the  legislature  in  pursuance  thereof; 
and  directs  the  time  and  manner  of  taking  it  by  the  offi 
cers  of  the  state,  civil,  judiciary,  and  military. 

It  is  believed  that  other  acts  have  been  passed,  embra 
cing  provisions  for  enforcing  the  ordinance ;  but  I  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  procure  them. 

I  transmit,  however,  a  copy  of  Governor  Hamilton's 
message  to  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina;  of  Gover 
nor  Hayne's  inaugural  address  to  the  same  body,  as  also 
of  his  proclamation,  and  a  general  order  of  the  governor 
and  coinmander-in-chief,  dated  the  20th  of  December, 
giving  public  notice  that  tjie  services  of  volunteers  will 
be  accepted  under  the  act  already  referred  to. 

If  these  measures  cannot  be  defeated  and  overcome  by 
the  power  conferred  by  the  constitution  on  the  federal 
government,  the  constitution  must  be  considered  as  in 
competent  to  its  own  defence,  the  supremacy  of  the  laws 
is  at  an  end,  and  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  citizens 
can  no  longer  receive  protection  from  the  government  of 
the  Union.  They  not  only  abrogate  the  acts  of  Congress, 
commonly  called  the  tariff  acts  of  1828  and  1823,  but 
they  prostrate  and  sweep  away,  at  once,  and  without  ex 
ception,  every  act,  and  every  part  of  every  act,  imposing 
any  amount  whatever  of  duty  on  any  foreign  merchan 
dise;  and,  virtually,  every  existing  act  which  has  ever 
been  passed,  authorizing  the  collection  of  the  revenue, 
including  the  act  of  1810,  and  also  the  collection  law  of 
1799,  the  constitutionality  of  which  has  never  been  ques 
tioned.  It  is  not  only  those  duties  which  are  charged  to 
have  been  imposed  for  the  protection  of  manufactures 
that  are  thereby  repealed,  but  all  others,  though  laid  for 


240  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  purpose  of  revenue  merely,  and  upon  articles  in  no 
degree  suspected  of  being  objects  of  protection.  The 
whole  revenue  system  of  the  United  States  in  South  Caro 
lina  is  obstructed  and  overthrown ;  and  the  government 
is  absolutely  prohibited  from  collecting  any  part  of  the 
public  revenue  within  the  limits  of  that  state.  Hence 
forth,  not  only  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina  and  of  the 
United  States,  but  the  subjects  of  foreign  states,  may  im 
port  any  description  or  quantity  of  merchandise  into  the 
ports  of  South  Carolina,  without  the  payment  of  any  duty 
whatsoever.  That  state  is  thus  relieved  from  the  pay 
ment  of  any  part  of  the  public  burdens,  and  duties  and 
imposts  are  not  only  rendered  not  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States,  but  a  direct  and  ruinous  preference  is  given 
to  the  ports  of  that  state  over  those  of  all  the  other  states 
of  the  Union,  in  manifest  violation  of  the  positive  provi 
sions  of  the  constitution. 

In  point  of  duration,  also,  those  aggressions  upon  the 
authority  of  Congress,  which,  by  the  ordinance,  are  made 
part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  South  Carolina,  are  abso 
lute,  indefinite,  and  without  limitation.  They  neither 
prescribe  the  period  when  they  shall  cease,  nor  indicate 
any  conditions  upon  which  those  who  have  thus  under 
taken  to  arrest  the  operation  of  the  laws  are  to  retrace 
their  steps  and  rescind  their  measures.  They  offer  to  the 
United  States  no  alternative  but  unconditional  submis 
sion.  If  the  scope  of  the  ordinance  is  to  be  received  as 
the  scale  of  concession,  their  demands  can  be  satisfied 
only  by  a  repeal  of  the  whole  system  of  revenue  laws, 
and  by  abstaining  from  the  collection  of  any  duties  and 
imposts  whatsoever. 

It  is  true,  that  in  the  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  by  the  convention  of  South  Carolina,  after  an 
nouncing  the  "  fixed  and  final  determination  of  the  state 
in  relation  to  the  protecting  system,"  they  say,  "  that  it 
remains  for  us  to  submit  a  plan  of  taxation,  in  which  we 
would  be  willing  to  acquiesce,  in  a  liberal  spirit  of  con 
cession,  provided  we  are  met  in  due  time,  and  in  a  be 
coming  spirit,  by  the  states  interested  in  manufactures." 
In  the  opinion  of  the  convention,  an  equitable  plan 
would  be,  that  "  the  whole  list  of  protective  articles 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  241 

should  be  imported  free  of  all  duty,  and  that  the  revenue 
derived  from  import  duties  should  be  raised  exclusively 
from  the  unprotected  articles,  or  that  whenever  a  duty  is 
imposed  upon  protected  articles  imported,  an  excise  duty 
of  the  same  rate  shall  be  imposed  upon  all  similar  articles 
manufactured  in  the  United  States."  The  address  pro 
ceeds  to  state,  however,  that "  they  are  willing  to  make  a 
large  offering  to  preserve  the  Union,  and  with  a  distinct 
declaration  that  it  is  a  concession  on  our  part,  we  will 
consent  that  the  same  rate  of  duties  may  be  imposed 
upon  the  protected  articles  that  shall  be  imposed  upon 
the  unprotected,  provided  that  no  more  revenue  be 
raised  than  is  necessary  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
government  for  constitutional  purposes,  and  provided  also 
that  a  duty  substantially  uniform  be  imposed  upon  all 
foreign  imports." 

It  is  also  true,  that,  in  his  message  to  the  legislature, 
when  urging  the  necessity  of  providing  "  means  of  secu 
ring  their  safety  by  ample  resources  for  repelling  force 
by  force,"  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  observes,  that 
he  "  cannot  but  think  that,  on  a  calm  and  dispassionate 
review  by  Congress  and  the  functionaries  of  the  general 
government,  of  the  true  merits  of  the  controversy,  this 
arbitration  by  a  call  of  a  convention  of  all  the  states, 
which  we  sincerely  and  anxiously  seek  and  desire,  will 
be  accorded  to  us." 

From  the  diversity  of  terms  indicated  in  these  two  im 
portant  documents,  taken  in  connection  with  the  progress 
of  recent  events  in  that  quarter,  there  is  too  much  reason 
to  apprehend,  without  in  any  manner  doubting  the  inten 
tions  of  those  public  functionaries,  that  neither  the  terms 
proposed  in  the  address  of  the  convention,  nor  those  al 
luded  to  in  the  message  of  the  governor,  would  appease 
the  excitement  which  has  led  to  the  present  excesses.  It 
is  obvious,  however,  that  should  the  latter  be  insisted  on, 
they  present  an  alternative  which  the  general  government 
of  itself  can  by  no  possibility  grant,  since,  by  an  express 
provision  of  the  constitution,  Congress  can  call  a  con 
vention  for  the  purpose  of  proposing  amendments  only 
"  on  the  application  of  the  legislatures  of  two  thirds 
of  the  states."  And  it  is  not  perceived  that  the  terms 

VOL.  II.  21 


242  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

presented  in  the  address  are  more  practicable  than  those 
referred  to  in  the  message. 

It  will  not  escape  attention,  that  the  conditions  on 
which  it  is  said,  in  the  address  of  the  convention,  they 
"  would  be  willing  to  acquiesce,"  form  no  part  of  the  or 
dinance.  While  this  ordinance  bears  all  the  solemnity 
of  a  fundamental  law,  is  to  be  authoritative  upon  all  with 
in  the  limits  of  South  Carolina,  and  is  absolute  and  un 
conditional  in  its  terms,  the  address  conveys  only  the 
sentiments  of  the  convention  in  no  binding  or  practical 
form  ;  one  is  the  act  of  the  state,  the  other  only  the  ex 
pression  of  the  opinions  of  the  members  of  the  conven 
tion.  To  limit  the  effect  of  that  solemn  act  by  any 
terms  or  conditions  whatever,  they  should  have  been  em 
bodied  in  it,  and  made  of  import  no  less  authoritative  than 
the  act  itself.  By  the  positive  enactments  of  the  ordi 
nance,  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  Union  is  abso 
lutely  prohibited  ;  and  the  address  offers  no  other  pros 
pect  of  their  being  again  restored,  even  in  the  modified 
form  proposed,  than  what  depends  upon  the  improbable 
contingency,  that  amid  changing  events  and  increasing 
excitement,  the  sentiments  of  the  present  members  of 
the  convention,  and  of  their  successors,  will  remain  the 
same. 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  however,  that  these  conditions, 
even  if  they  had  been  offered  in  the  same  binding  form, 
are  so  undefined,  depend  upon  so  many  contingencies, 
and  are  so  directly  opposed  to  the  known  opinions  and 
interests  of  the  great  body  of  the  American  people,  as 
to  be  almost  hopeless  of  attainment.  The  majority  of 
the  states,  and  of  the  people,  will  certainly  not  consent 
that  the  protecting  duties  shall  be  wholly  abrogated, 
never  to  be  re-enacted  at  any  future  time,  or  in  any  pos 
sible  contingency.  As  little  practicable  is  it  to  provide 
that  "  the  same  rate  of  duty  shall  be  imposed  upon  the 
protected  articles  that  shall  be  imposed  upon  the  unpro 
tected  ;"  which,  moreover,  would  be  severely  oppressive 
to  the  poor,  and,  in  time  of  war,  would  add  greatly  to  its 
rigor.  And  though  there  can  be  no  objection  to  the 
principle,  properly  understood,  that  no  more  revenue 
shall  be  raised  than  is  necessary  for  the  constitutional 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  243 

purposes  of  the  government,  which  principle  has  been 
already  recommended  by  the  executive  as  the  true  basis 
of  taxation ;  yet  it  is  very  certain  that  South  Carolina 
alone  cannot  be  permitted  to  decide  what  these  constitu 
tional  purposes  are. 

The  period  which  constitutes  the  due  time  in  which 
the  terms  proposed  in  the  address  are  to  be  accepted, 
would  seem  to  present  scarcely  less  difficulty  than  the 
terms  themselves.  Though  the  revenue  laws  are  already 
declared  to  be  void  in  South  Carolina,  as  well  as  the 
bonds  taken  under  them,  and  the  judicial  proceedings  for 
carrying  them  into  effect,  yet,  as  the  full  action  and  ope 
ration  of  the  ordinance  are  to  be  suspended  until  the 
first  of  February,  the  interval  may  be  assumed  as  the 
time  within  which  it  is  expected  that  the  most  complica 
ted  portion  of  the  national  legislation,  a  system  of  long 
standing,  and  affecting  great  interests  in  the  community, 
is  to  be  rescinded  and  abolished.  If  this  be  required,  it 
is  clear  that  a  compliance  is  impossible. 

In  the  uncertainty,  then,  that  exists  as  to  the  duration 
of  the  ordinance,  and  of  the  enactments  for  enforcing  it, 
it  becomes  imperiously  the  duty  of  the  executive  of  the 
United  States,  acting  with  a  proper  regard  to  all  the  great 
interests  committed  to  his  care,  to  treat  those  acts  as  ab 
solute  and  unlimited.  They  are  so,  as  far  as  his  agency 
is  concerned.  He  cannot  either  embrace  or  lead  to  the 
performance  of  the  conditions.  He  has  already  discharg 
ed  the  only  part  in  his  power,  by  the  recommendation 
in  his  annual  message.  The  rest  is  with  Congress  and 
the  people ;  and  until  they  have  acted,  his  duty  will  re 
quire  him  to  look  to  the  existing  state  of  things,  and  act 
under  them  according  to  his  high  obligations. 

By  these  various  proceedings,  therefore,  the  state  of 
South  Carolina  has  forced  the  general  government,  una 
voidably,  to  decide  the  new  and  dangerous  alternative  of 
permitting  a  state  to  obstruct  the  execution  of  the  laws 
within  its  limits,  or  seeing  it  attempt  to  execute  a  threat 
of  withdrawing  from  the  Union.  That  portion  of  the 
people  at  present  exercising  the  authority  of  the  state 
solemnly  assert  their  right  to  do  either,  and  as  solemnly 
announce  their  determination  to  do  one  or  the  other. 


244  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

In  my  opinion,  both  purposes  are  to  be  regarded  as 
revolutionary  in  their  character  and  tendency,  and  subver 
sive  of  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  and  of  the  integrity  of 
the  Union.  The  result  of  each  is  the  same ;  since  a 
state  in  which,  by  an  usurpation  of  power,  the  constitu 
tional  authority  of  the  federal  government  is  openly  de 
fied  and  set  aside,  wants  only  the  form  to  be  independent 
of  the  Union. 

The  right  of  the  people  of  a  single  stato  to  absolve 
themselves  at  will,  and  without  the  consent  of  the  other 
states,  from  their  most  solemn  obligations,  and  hazard  the 
liberties  and  happiness  of  the  millions  composing  this 
Union,  cannot  be  acknowledged.  Such  authority  is  be 
lieved  to  be  utterly  repugnant  both  to  the  principles  upon 
which  the  general  government  is  constituted,  and  to  the 
objects  which  it  is  expressly  formed  to  attain. 

Against  all  acts  which  may  be  alleged  to  transcend  the 
constitutional  power  of  the  government,  or  which  may  be 
inconvenient  or  oppressive  in  their  operation,  the  consti 
tution  itself  has  prescribed  the  modes  of  redress.  It  is 
the  acknowledged  attribute  of  free  institutions  that,  under 
them,  the  empire  of  reason  and  law  is  substituted  for  the 
power  of  the  sword.  To  no  other  source  can  appeals  for 
supposed  wrongs  be  made,  consistently  with  the  obliga 
tions  of  South  Carolina  ;  to  no  other  can  such  appeals  be 
made  with  safety  at  any  time,  and  to  their  decisions,  when 
constitutionally  pronounced,  it  becomes  the  duty,  no  less 
of  the  public  authorities  than  of  the  people,  in  every  case 
to  yield  to  a  patriotic  submission. 

That  a  state,  or  any  other  great  portion  of  the  people, 
suffering  under  long  and  intolerable  oppression,  and 
having  tried  all  constitutional  remedies  without  the  hope 
of  redress,  may  have  a  natural  right,  when  their  happi 
ness  can  be  no  otherwise  secured,  and  when  they  can  do 
so  without  greater  injury  to  others,  to  absolve  themselves 
from  their  obligations  to  the  government,  and  appeal  to 
the  last  resort,  need  not  on  the  present  occasion  be  de 
nied. 

The  existence  of  this  right,  however,  must  depend 
upon  the  causes  which  may  justify  its  exercise.  It  is  the 
ultima  ratio,  which  presuppose?  that  the  proper  appeals 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  245 

to  all  other  means  of  redress  have  been  made  in  good 
faith,  and  which  can  never  be  rightfully  resorted  to  unless 
it  be  unavoidable.  It  is  not  the  right  of  the  state,  but  of 
the  individual,  and  of  all  the  individuals  in  the  state.  It 
is  the  right  of  mankind  generally,  to  secure  by  all  means 
in  their  power,  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  happiness  : 
but  when,  for  these  purposes,  any  body  of  men  have  vo 
luntarily  associated  themselves  under  a  particular  form  of 
government,  no  portion  of  them  can  dissolve  the  associa 
tion  without  acknowledging  the  correlative  right  in  the 
remainder  to  decide  whether  that  dissolution  can  be  per 
mitted  consistently  with  the  general  happiness.  In  this 
view,  it  is  a  right  dependent  upon  the  power  to  enforce 
it.  Such  a  right,  though  it  may  be  admitted  to  pre-exist, 
and  cannot  be  wholly  surrendered,  is  necessarily  subject 
ed  to  limitations  in  all  free  governments,  and  in  compacts 
of  all  kinds,  freely  and  voluntarily  entered  into,  and  in 
which  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  individual  become 
identified  with  those  of  the  community  of  which  he  is  a 
member.  In  compacts  between  individuals,  however 
deeply  they  may  affect  their  relations,  these  principles  are 
acknowledged  to  create  a  sacred  obligation  ;  and  in  com 
pacts  of  a  civil  government,  involving  the  liberties  and 
happiness  of  millions  of  mankind,  the  obligation  cannot 
be  less. 

Without  adverting  to  the  particular  theories  to  which 
the  federal  compact  has  given  rise,  both  as  to  its  forma 
tion  and  the  parties  to  it,  and  without  inquiring  whether 
it  be  merely  federal,  or  social,  or  national,  it  is  sufficient 
that  it  must  be  admitted  to  be  a  compact,  and  to  possess 
the  obligations  incident  to  a  compact ;  to  be  "  a  compact 
by  which  power  is  created  on  the  one  hand,  and  obedi 
ence  exacted  on  the  other;  a  compact  freely,  voluntarily, 
and  solemnly  entered  into  by  the  several  states,  and  rati 
fied  by  the  people  thereof,  respectively ;  a  compact  by 
which  the  several  states,  and  the  people  thereof,  respect 
ively,  have  bound  themselves  to  each  other,  and  to  the 
federal  government,  and  by  which  the  federal  government 
is  bound  to  the  several  states,  and  to  every  citizen  of  the 
United  States."  To  this  compact,  in  whatever  mode  it 
may  have  been  done,  the  people  of  South  Carolina  hare 

VOL.  II.  21* 


246  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

freely  and  voluntarily  given  their  assent;  and  to  the 
whole  and  every  part  of  it,  they  are,  upon  every  principle 
of  good  faith,  inviolably  bound.  Under  this  obligation 
they  are  bound,  and  should  be  required,  to  contribute 
their  portion  of  the  public  expense,  and  to  submit  to  all 
laws  made  by  the  common  consent,  in  the  pursuance  of 
the  constitution,  for  the  common  defence  and  general 
welfare,  until  they  can  be  changed  in  the  mode  which  the 
compact  has  provided  for  the  attainment  of  those  great 
ends  of  the  government  and  of  the  Union.  Nothing  less 
than  cases  which  would  justify  revolutionary  remedy,  can 
absolve  the  people  from  this  obligation ;  and  for  nothing 
less  can  the  government  permit  it  to  be  done  without  vio 
lating  its  own  obligations,  by  which,  under  the  compact, 
it  is  bound  to  the  other  states,  and  to  every  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

These  deductions  plainly  flow  from  the  nature  of  the 
federal  compact,  which  is  one  of  limitations,  not  only  upon 
the  powers  originally  possessed  by  the  parties  thereto,  but 
also  upon  those  conferred  on  the  government,  and  every 
department  thereof.  It  will  be  freely  conceded  that,  by 
the  principles  of  our  system,  all  power  is  vested  in  the 
people  ;  but  to  be  exercised  in  the  mode,  and  subject  to 
the  checks,  which  the  people  themselves  have  prescribed. 
These  checks  are,  undoubtedly,  only  different  modifica 
tions  of  the  same  great  popular  principle  which  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  the  whole,  but  are  not,  on  that  account, 
to  be  less  regarded  or  less  obligatory. 

Upon  the  power  of  Congress,  the  veto  of  the  executive, 
and  the  authority  of  the  judiciary,  which  is  to  extend 
to  all  cases  in  law  and  equity  arising  under  the  constitu 
tion  and  laws  of  the  United  States  made  in  pursuance 
thereof,  are  the  obvious  checks ;  and  the  sound  action 
of  public  opinion,  with  the  ultimate  power  of  amendment, 
are  the  salutary  and  only  limitation  upon  the  powers  of 
the  whole. 

However  it  may  be  alleged  that  a  violation  of  the  com 
pact,  by  the  measures  of  the  government,  can  affect  the 
obligations  of  the  parties,  it  cannot  even  be  pretended 
that  such  violation  can  be  predicated  of  those  measures 
until  all  the  constitutional  remedies  shall  have  been  fully 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  247 

tried.  If  the  federal  government  exercise  powers  not 
warranted  by  the  constitution,  and  immediately  affecting 
individuals,  it  will  scarcely  be  denied  that  the  proper  re 
medy  is  a  recourse  to  the  judiciary.  Such,  undoubtedly, 
is  the  remedy  for  those  who  deem  the  acts  of  Congress 
laying  duties  and  imposts  and  providing  for  their  collec 
tion,  to  be  unconstitutional.  The  whole  operation  of 
such  laws  is  upon  the  individuals  importing  the  merchan 
dise.  A  state  is  absolutely  prohibited  from  laying  im 
posts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  without  the  consent 
of  Congress,  and  cannot  become  a  party,  under  these 
laws,  without  importing  in  her  own  name,  or  wrongfully 
interposing  her  authority  against  them.  By  thus  interpo 
sing,  however,  she  cannot  rightfully  obstruct  the  opera 
tion  of  the  laws  upon  individuals.  For  their  disobedi 
ence  to,  or  violation  of,  the  laws,  the  ordinary  remedies 
through  the  judicial  tribunals  would  remain.  And  in  a 
case  where  an  individual  should  be  prosecuted  for  any 
offence  against  the  laws,  he  could  not  set  up,  in  justifica 
tion  of  his  act,  a  law  of  the  state,  which,  being  unconsti 
tutional,  would  therefore  be  regarded  as  null  and  void. 
The  law  of  a  state  cannot  authorize  the  commission  of  a 
crime  against  the  United  States,  or  any  other  act  which, 
according  to  the  supreme  law  of  the  Union,  would  be 
otherwise  unlawful.  And  it  is  equally  clear  that,  if  there 
be  any  case  in  which  a  state,  as  such,  is  affected  by  the 
law  beyond  the  scope  of  judicial  power,  the  remedy  con 
sists  in  appeals  to  the  people,  either  to  effect  a  change  in 
the  representation,  or  to  procure  relief  by  an  amendment 
of  the  constitution.  But  the  measures  of  the  govern 
ment  are  to  be  recognized  as  valid,  and,  consequently, 
supreme,  until  these  remedies  shall  have  been  effectually 
tried  ;  and  any  attempt  to  subvert  those  measures,  or  to 
render  the  laws  subordinate  to  state  authority,  and  after 
wards  to  resort  to  constitutional  redress,  is  worse  than 
evasive.  It  would  not  be  a  proper  resistance  to  "  a  go 
vernment  of  unlimited  powers,"  as  has  been  sometimes 
pretended,  but  unlawful  opposition  to  the  very  limitations 
on  which  the  harmonious  action  of  the  government,  and 
all  its  parts,  absolutely  depends.  South  Carolina  has  ap 
pealed  to  none  of  these  remedies,  but,  in  effect,  has  d&- 


248 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


fied  them  all.  While  threatening  to  separate  from  the 
Union  if  any  attempt  be  made  to  enforce  the  revenue 
laws  otherwise  than  through  the  civil  tribunals  of  the 
country,  she  has  not  only  not  appealed  in  her  own  name  to 
those  tribunals  which  the  constitution  has  provided  for 
all  cases  in  law  and  equity  arising  under  the  constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States,  but  has  endeavored  to 
frustrate  their  proper  action  on  her  citizens,  by  drawing 
the  cognizance  of  the  cases  under  the  revenue  laws  to 
her  own  tribunals,  specially  prepared  and  fitted  for  the 
purpose  of  enforcing  the  acts  passed  by  the  state  to  ob 
struct  those  laws,  and  both  the  judges  and  jurors  of  which 
will  be  bound,  by  the  import  of  oaths  previously  taken, 
to  treat  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  in 
this  respect  as  a  nullity.  Nor  has  the  state  made  the 
proper  appeal  to  public  opinion,  and  to  the  remedy  of 
amendment.  For,  without  waiting  to  learn  whether  the 
other  states  will  consent  to  a  convention,  or,  if  they  do, 
will  construe  or  amend  the  constitution  to  suit  her  views, 
she  has,  of  her  own  authority,  altered  the  import  of  that 
instrument,  and  given  immediate  effect  to  the  change.  In 
fine,  she  has  set  her  own  will  and  authority  above  the 
laws,  has  made  herself  arbiter  in  her  own  cause,  and  has 
passed  at  once  over  all  intermediate  steps  to  measures  of 
avowed  resistance,  which,  unless  they  be  submitted  to, 
can  be  enforced  only  by  the  sword. 

In  deciding  upon  the  course  which  a  high  sense  of 
duty  to  all  the  people  of  the  United  States  imposes  upon 
the  authorities  of  the  Union  in  this  emergency,  it  cannot 
be  overlooked  that  there  is  no  sufficient  cause  for  the 
acts  of  South  Carolina,  or  for  her  thus  placing  in  jeopardy 
the  happiness  of  so  many  millions  of  people.  Misrule 
and  oppression,  to  warrant  the  disruption  of  the  free 
institutions  of  the  union  of  these  states,  should  be  great 
and  lasting,  defying  all  other  remedy.  For  causes  of 
minor  character,  the  government  could  not  submit  to 
such  a  catastrophe,  without  a  violation  of  its  most  sacred 
obligations  to  the  other  states  of  the  Union,  who  have 
submitted  their  destiny  to  its  hands. 

There  is  in  the  present  instance  no  such  cause,  either 
in  the  degree  of  misrule  or  oppression  complained  of,  or 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  249 

in  the  hopelessness  of  redress  by  constitutional  means, 
The  long  sanction  they  have  received  from  the  proper 
authorities  and  from  the  people,  not  less  than  the  unex 
ampled  growth  and  increasing  prosperity  of  so  many 
millions  of  freemen,  attest  that  no  such  oppression  as 
would  justify  or  even  palliate  such  a  resort,  can  be  justly 
imputed  either  to  the  present  policy  or  past  measures  of 
the  federal  government. 

The  same  mode  of  collecting  duties,  and  for  the  same 
general  objects,  which  began  with  the  foundation  of  the 
government,  and  which  has  conducted  the  country  through 
its  subsequent  steps  to  its  present  enviable  condition  of 
happiness  and  renown,  has  not  been  changed.  Taxation 
and  representation,  the  great  principle  of  the  American 
revolution,  have  continually  gone  hand  in  hand  ;  and  at 
all  times,  and  in  every  instance,  no  tax  of  any  kind  has 
been  imposed  without  their  participation ;  and,  in  some 
instances,  which  have  been  complained  of,  with  the  ex 
press  assent  of  a  part  of  the  representatives  of  South 
Carolina  in  the  councils  of  the  government.  Up  to  the 
present  period,  no  revenue  has  been  raised  beyond  the 
necessary  wants  of  the  country,  and  the  authorized  ex 
penditures  of  the  government.  As  soon  as  the  burden 
of  the  public  debt  is  removed,  those  charged  with  the 
administration  have  promptly  recommended  a  corre 
sponding  reduction  of  revenue. 

That  this  system  thus  pursued  has  resulted  in  no  such 
oppression  upon  South  Carolina,  needs  no  other  proof 
than  the  solemn  and  official  declaration  of  the  late  chief 
magistrate  of  that  state  in  his  address  to  the  legislature. 
In  that  he  says,  that  "  the  occurrences  of  the  past  year, 
in  connection  with  our  domestic  concerns,  are  to  be 
reviewed  with  a  sentiment  of  fervent  gratitude  to  the 
Great  Disposer  of  human  events  ;  that  tributes  of  grate 
ful  acknowledgment  are  due  for  the  various  and  multi 
plied  blessings  he  has  been  pleased  to  bestow  on  our 
people ;  that  abundant  harvests  in  every  quarter  of  the 
state  have  crowned  the  exertions  of  agricultural  labor ; 
that  health  almost  beyond  former  precedent,  has  blessed 
our  homes ;  and  that  there  is  not  less  reason  for  thank 
fulness  in  surveying  our  social  condition."  It  would, 


250  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

indeed,  be  difficult  to  imagine  oppression  where,  in  the 
social  conditions  of  a  people,  there  was  equal  cause  of 
thankfulness,  as  for  abundant  harvests,  and  varied  and 
multiplied  blessings  with  which  a  kind  Providence  had 
favored  them. 

Independently  of  these  considerations,  it  will  not  es 
cape  observation,  that  South  Carolina  still  claims  to  be  a 
component  part  of  the  Union,  to  participate  in  the  na 
tional  councils,  and  to  share  in  the  public  benefits,  with 
out  contributing  to  the  public  burdens;  thus  asserting 
the  dangerous  anomaly  of  continuing  in  an  association 
without  acknowledging  any  other  obligation  to  its  laws 
than  what  depends  upon  her  own  will. 

In  this  posture  of  affairs,  the  duty  of  the  government 
seems  to  be  plain.  It  inculcates  a  recognition  of  that 
state  as  a  member  of  the  Union,  and  subject  to  its  author 
ity  ;  a  vindication  of  the  just  power  of  the  constitution  ; 
the  preservation  of  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  the 
execution  of  the  laws  by  all  constitutional  means. 

The  constitution,  which  his  oath  of  office  obliges  him 
to  support,  declares  that  the  executive  "shall  take  care 
that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed : "  and,  in  providing 
that  he  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  Congress  in 
formation  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to 
their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  ne 
cessary  and  expedient,  imposes  the  additional  obligation 
of  recommending  to  Congress  such  more  efficient  pro 
visions  for  executing  the  laws,  as  may  from  time  to  time 
be  found  requisite. 

The  same  instrument  confers  to  Congress  the  power 
not  merely  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and 
excises,  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common 
defence  and  general  welfare,  but  "to make  all  laws  which 
shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  effect  the 
foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  the 
constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or 
in  any  department  or  officer  thereof;"  and  also,  to  pro 
vide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  for  executing  the  laws 
of  the  Union.  In  all  cases  similar  to  the  present,  the 
duties  of  the  government  become  the  measure  of  its 
powers  ;  and  whenever  it  fails  to  exercise  a  power  neces- 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  251 

sary  and  proper  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  prescribed 
by  the  constitution,  it  violates  the  public  trusts  not  less 
than  it  would  in  transcending  its  proper  limits.  To  re 
frain,  therefore,  from  the  high  and  solemn  duties  thus 
enjoined,  however  painful  the  performance  may  be,  and 
thereby  tacitly  permit  the  rightful  authority  of  the  go 
vernment  to  be  contemned,  and  its  laws  obstructed  by  a 
single  state,  would  neither  comport  with  its  own  safety, 
nor  the  rights  of  the  great  body  of  the  American  people. 

It  being  thus  shown  to  be  the  duty  of  the  executive  to 
execute  the  laws  by  all  constitutional  means,  it  remains 
to  consider  the  extent  of  those  already  at  his  disposal, 
and  what  it  may  be  proper  further  to  provide. 

In  the  instructions  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to 
the  collectors  in  South  Carolina,  the  provisions  and  regu 
lations  made  by  the  act  of  1799,  and  also  the  fines,  penal 
ties,  and  forfeitures,  for  their  enforcement,  are  particularly- 
detailed  and  explained.  It  may  be  well  apprehended, 
however,  that  these  provisions  may  prove  inadequate  to 
meet  such  an  open,  powerful,  organized  opposition,  as  is 
to  be  commenced  after  the  first  day  of  February  next. 

Subsequently  to  the  date  of  these  instructions  and  to 
the  passage  of  the  ordinance,  information  has  been  re 
ceived,  from  sources  entitled  to  be  relied  on,  that  owing  to 
the  popular  excitement  in  the  state,  and  the  effect  of  the 
ordinance  declaring  the  execution  of  the  revenue  laws 
unlawful,  a  sufficient  number  of  persons,  in  whom  confi 
dence  might  be  placed,  could  not  be  induced  to  accept 
the  office  of  inspector,  to  oppose,  with  any  probability  of 
success,  the  force  which  will,  no  doubt,  be  used  when  an 
attempt  is  made  to  remove  vessels  and  their  cargoes  from 
the  custody  of  the  officers  of  the  customs  ;  and,  indeed, 
that  it  would  be  impracticable  for  the  collector,  with  the 
aid  of  any  number  of  inspectors  whom  he  may  be  au 
thorized  to  employ,  to  preserve  the  custody  against  such 
an  attempt. 

The  removal  of  the  custom-house  from  Charleston  to 
Castle  Pinckney  was  deemed  a  measure  of  necessary  pre 
caution  ;  and  though  the  authority  to  give  that  direction 
was  not  questioned,  it  is  nevertheless  apparent  that  a  simi 
lar  precaution  cannot  be  observed  in  regard  to  the  ports 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  Georgetown  and  Beaufort,  each  of  which,  under  the 
present  laws,  remains  a  port  of  entry,  and  exposed  to  the 
obstructions  meditated  in  that  quarter. 

In  considering  the  best  means  of  avoiding  or  prevent 
ing  the  apprehended  obstruction  to  the  collection  of  the 
revenue,  arid  the  consequences  which  may  ensue,  it  would 
appear  to  be  proper  and  necessary  to  enable  the  officers 
of  the  customs  to  preserve  the  custody  of  vessels  and 
their  cargoes,  which,  by  the  existing  laws,  they  are  re 
quired  to  take,  until  the  duties  to  which  they  are  liable 
shall  be  paid  or  secured.  The  mode  by  which  it  is  con 
templated  to  deprive  them  of  that  custody,  is  the  process 
of  replevin,  and  that  of  capias  in  withernam,  in  the  na 
ture  of  a  distress  from  the  state  tribunals  organized  by 
the  ordinance. 

Against  the  proceeding  in  the  nature  of  a  distress,  it  is 
not  perceived  that  the  collector  can  interpose  any  resist 
ance  whatever  ;  and  against  the  process  of  replevin  au 
thorized  by  the  law  of  the  state,  he,  having  no  common 
law  power,  can  only  oppose  such  inspectors  as  he  is  by 
statute  authorized,  and  may  find  it  practicable  to  employ  ; 
and  these,  from  the  information  already  adverted  to,  are 
shown  to  be  wholly  inadequate. 

The  respect  which  that  process  deserves,  must  there 
fore  be  considered. 

If  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina  had  not  obstructed 
the  legitimate  action  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States, 
or  if  they  had  permitted  the  state  tribunals  to  administer 
the  law  according  to  their  oath  under  the  constitution  and 
the  regulations  of  the  laws  of  the  Union,  the  general  go 
vernment  might  have  been  content  to  look  to  them  for 
maintaining  the  custody,  and  to  encounter  the  other  in 
conveniences  arising  out  of  the  recent  proceedings. 
Even  in  that  case,  however,  the  process  of  replevin  from 
the  courts  of  the  state  would  be  irregular  and  unauthor 
ized.  It  has  been  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  that  the  courts  of  the  United  States  have 
exclusive  jurisdiction  of  all  seizures  made  on  land  or  wa 
ter  for  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  any 
intervention  of  a  state  authority,  which,  by  taking  the 
thing  seized  out  of  the  hands  of  the  United  States'  offi- 


NULLIFICATION   MESSAGE.  253 

cers,  might  obstruct  the  exercise  of  this  jurisdiction,  is 
unlawful :  that,  in  such  case,  the  court  of  the  United 
States  having  cognizance  of  the  seizure,  may  enforce  a 
redelivery  of  the  thing  by  attachment,  or  other  summary 
process;  that  the  question  under  such  a  seizure,  whether 
a  forfeiture  has  been  actually  incurred,  belongs  exclu 
sively  to  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  it  depends 
on  the  final  decree,  whether  the  seizure  is  to  be  deemed 
rightful  or  tortuous ;  and  that  not  until  the  seizure  be  fi 
nally  judged  wrongful,  and  without  probable  cause  by  the 
courts  of  the  United  States,  can  the  party  proceed  at 
common  law  for  damages  in  the  state  courts. 

But  by  making  it  "  unlawful  for  any  of  the  constituted 
authorities,  whether  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  state, 
to  enforce  the  laws  for  the  payment  of  duties,  declaring 
that  all  judicial  proceedings  which  shall  be  hereafter  had 
in  affirmance  of  the  contracts  made  with  purpose  to  se 
cure  the  duties  imposed  by  the  said  acts,  are,  and  shall 
be  held  utterly  null  and  void,"  she  has  in  effect  abrogated 
the  judicial  tribunals  within  her  limits  in  this  respect; 
has  virtually  denied  the  United  States  access  to  the 
courts  established  by  their  own  laws  ;  and  declared  it 
unlawful  for  the  judges  to  discharge  those  duties  which 
they  are  sworn  to  perform.  In  lieu  of  these,  she  has  sub 
stituted  those  state  tribunals  already  adverted  to,  the 
judges  whereof  are  not  merely  forbidden  to  allow  an  ap 
peal  or  permit  a  copy  of  their  record,  but  are  previously 
sworn  to  disregard  the  laws  of  the  Union,  and  enforce 
those  only  of  South  Carolina;  and,  thus  deprived  of  the 
function  essential  to  the  judicial  character,  of  inquiring 
into  the  validity  of  the  law  and  the  right  of  the  matter, 
become  merely  ministerial  instruments  in  aid  of  the  con 
certed  obstruction  of  the  laws  of  the  Union. 

Neither  the  process  nor  authority  of  these  tribunals, 
thus  constituted,  can  be  respected,  consistently  with  the 
supremacy  of  the  laws  or  the  rights  and  security  of  the 
citizen.  If  they  be  submitted  to,  the  protection  due  from 
the  government  to  its  officers  and  citizens  is  withheld, 
and  there  is  at  once  an  end,  not  only  to  the  laws,  but  to 
the  Union  itself. 

Against  such  a  force  as  the  sheriff  may,  and  which,  by 
VOL.  ii.  22 


254  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  replevin  law  of  South  Carolina,  it  is  his  duty  to  exer 
cise,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  a  collector  can  retain  his 
custody  with  the  aid  of  the  inspectors.  In  such  case,  it 
is  true,  it  would  be  competent  to  institute  suits  in  the 
United  States  courts  against  those  engaged  in  the  unlaw 
ful  proceeding;  or  the  property  might  be  seized  for  a 
violation  of  the  revenue  laws,  and,  being  libelled  in  the 
proper  courts,  an  order  might  be  made  for  its  redelivery, 
which  would  be  committed  to  the  marshal  for  execution. 
But,  in  that  case,  the  fourth  section  of  the  act,  in  broad 
and  unqualified  terms,  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  sheriff 
"  to  prevent  such  recapture  or  seizure,  or  to  redeliver  the 
goods,  as  the  case  maybe,"  "even  under  any  process, 
order,  or  decree,  or  other  pretext,  contrary  to  the  true 
intent  and  meaning  of  the  ordinance  aforesaid."  It  is 
thus  made  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  to  oppose  the  process 
of  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  for  that  purpose, 
if  need  be,  to  employ  the  whole  power  of  the  country. 
And  the  act  expressly  reserves  to  him  all  power  which, 
independently  of  its  provisions,  he  could  have  used.  In 
this  reservation  it  obviously  contemplates  a  resort  to  other 
means  than  those  particularly  mentioned. 

It  is  not  to  be  disguised  that  the  power  which  it  is  thus 
enjoined  upon  the  sheriff  to  employ,  is  nothing  less  than 
the  posse  comitatus,  in  all  the  rigor  of  the  ancient  com 
mon  law.  This  power,  though  it  may  be  used  against 
unlawful  resistance  to  judicial  process,  is  in  its  character 
forcible,  and  analogous  to  that  conferred  upon  the  mar 
shals  by  the  act  of  1795.  It  is  in  fact  the  embodying  of 
the  whole  mass  of  the  population,  under  the  command 
of  a  single  individual,  to  accomplish  by  their  forcible  aid 
what  could  not  be  effected  peaceably  and  by  the  ordinary 
means.  It  may  properly  be  said  to  be  a  relic  of  those 
ages  in  which  the  laws  could  be  defended  rather  by  phy 
sical  than  moral  force,  and  in  its  origin  was  conferred 
upon  the  sheriffs  of  England,  to  enable  them  to  defend 
their  country  against  any  of  the  king's  enemies  when 
they  came  into  the  land,  as  well  as  for  the  purpose  of 
executing  process.  In  early  and  less  civilized  times,  it 
was  intended  to  include  "the  aid  and  attendance  of  all 
knights  and  others  who  were  bound  to  have  harness." 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE. 

It  includes  the  right  of  going  with  arms  and  military 
equipments,  and  embraces  larger  classes  and  greater 
masses  of  population  than  can  be  compelled  by  the  laws 
of  most  of  the  states  to  perform  militia  duty.  If  the 
principles  of  the  common  law  are  recognized  in  South 
Carolina,  (and  from  this  act  it  would  seem  they  are,)  the 
power  of  summoning  the  posse  comitatus  will  compel,  un 
der  the  penalty  of  fine  and  imprisonment,  every  man 
over  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  able  to  travel,  to  turn  out  at 
the  call  of  the  sheriff,  and  with  such  weapons  as  may  be 
necessary;  and  it  may  justify  beating,  and  even  killing 
such  as  may  resist.  The  use  of  the  posse  comitatus  is, 
therefore,  a  direct  application  of  force,  and  cannot  be 
otherwise  regarded  than  as  the  employment  of  the  whole 
militia  force  of  the  country,  and  in  equally  efficient 
form,  under  a  different  name.  No  proceeding  which  re 
sorts  to  this  power  to  the  extent  contemplated  by  the  act, 
can  be  properly  denominated  peaceable. 

The  act  of  South  Carolina,  however,  does  not  rely 
altogether  upon  this  forcible  remedy.  For  even  attempt 
ing  to  resist  or  disobey,  though  by  the  aid  only  of  the 
ordinary  officers  of  the  customs,  the  process  of  replevin, 
the  collector  and  all  concerned,  are  subject  to  a  further 
proceeding  in  the  nature  of  a  distress  of  their  personal 
effects;  and  are,  moreover,  made  guilty  of  a  misdemea 
nor,  and  liable  to  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than 
one  thousand,  nor  more  than  five  thousand  dollars,  and 
to  imprisonment  not  exceeding  two  years,  and  not  less 
than  six  months ;  and  for  even  attempting  to  execute 
the  order  of  the  court  for  retaking  the  property,  the 
marshal  and  all  assisting,  would  be  guilty  of  a  misdemea 
nor,  and  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  three  thousand 
dollars,  nor  more  than  ten  thousand,  and  to  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  two  years,  nor  less  than  one,  and  in  case 
the  goods  should  be  retaken  under  such  process,  it  is 
made  the  absolute  duty  of  the  sheriff  to  retake  them. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  in  the  face  of  these 
penalties,  aided  by  the  powerful  force  of  the  country, 
which  would  doubtless  be  brought  to  sustain  the  state 
officers,  either  that  the  collector  would  retain  the  custody 
in  the  first  instance,  or  that  the  marshal  could  summon 


256  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

sufficient  aid  to  retake  the  property  pursuant  to  the  or 
der  or  other  process  of  the  court. 

It  is,  moreover,  obvious  that  in  this  conflict  between 
the  powers  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
the  state,  (unless  the  latter  be  passively  submitted  to,) 
the  destruction  to  which  the  property  of  the  officers  of 
the  customs  would  be  exposed,  the  commission  of  ac 
tual  violence,  and  the  loss  of  lives,  would  be  scarcely 
avoidable. 

Under  these  circumstances,  arid  the  provision  of  the 
acts  of  South  Carolina,  the  execution  of  the  laws  is  ren 
dered  impracticable  even  through  the  ordinary  judicial 
tribunals  of  the  United  States.  There  would  certainly 
be  fewer  difficulties,  and  less  opportunity  of  actual  col 
lision  between  the  officers  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
the  state,  and  the  collection  of  the  revenue  would  be  more 
effectually  secured — if  indeed  it  can  be  done  in  any  other 
way — by  placing  the  custom-house  beyond  the  immediate 
power  of  the  country. 

For  this  purpose,  it  might  be  proper  to  provide  that 
whenever,  by  any  unlawful  combination  or  obstruction 
in  any  state,  or  in  any  port,  it  should  become  impractica 
ble  faithfully  to  collect  the  duties,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  should  be  authorized  to  alter  and  abolish 
such  of  the  districts  and  ports  of  entry  as  should  be  ne 
cessary,  and  to  establish  the  custom-house  at  some  secure 
place  within  some  port  or  harbor  of  such  state ;  and  in 
such  cases  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  collector  to  re 
side  at  such  place,  and  to  detain  all  vessels  and  cargoes 
until  the  duties  imposed  by  law  should  be  properly  se 
cured  or  paid  in  cash,  deducting  interest;  that,  in  such 
cases,  it  should  be  unlawful  to  take  the  vessel  and  cargo 
from  the  custody  of  the  proper  officer  of  the  customs, 
unless  by  process  from  the  ordinary  judicial  tribunals  of 
the  United  States ;  and  that  in  case  of  an  attempt  other 
wise  to  take  the  property  by  a  force  too  great  to  be  over 
come  by  the  officers  of  the  customs,  it  should  be  lawful 
to  protect  the  possession  of  the  officers  by  the  employment 
of  the  land  and  naval  forces  and  militia,  under  provi 
sions  similar  to  those  authorized  by  the  llth  section  of 
the  act  of  the  9th  January,  1809. 


NULLIFICATION    MESSAGE.  257 

This  provision,  however,  would  not  shield  the  officers 
and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  acting  under  the  laws, 
from  suits  and  prosecutions  in  the  tribunals  of  the  state, 
which  might  thereafter  be  brought  against  them  ;  nor 
would  it  protect  their  property  from  the  proceeding  by 
distress ;  and  it  may  well  be  apprehended  that  it  would 
be  insufficient  to  insure  a  proper  respect  to  the  process 
of  the  constitutional  tribunals,  in  prosecutions  for  offen 
ces  against  the  United  States,  and  to  protect  the  authori 
ties  of  the  United  States,  whether  judicial  or  ministerial, 
in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  It  would,  moreover, 
be  inadequate  to  extend  the  protection  due  from  the  go 
vernment  to  that  portion  of  the  people  of  South  Caroli 
na,  against  outrage  and  oppression  of  any  kind,  who  may 
manifest  their  attachment,  and  yield  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  the  Union. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  desirable  to  revive,  with  some 
modifications  better  adapted  to  the  occasion,  the  sixth 
section  of  the  act  of  the  3d  of  March,  1815,  which  ex 
pired  on  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  by  the  limitation  of 
that  of  27th  of  April,  1816,  and  to  provide  that  in  any 
case  where  suit  shall  be  brought  against  any  individual 
in  the  courts  of  the  state,  for  any  act  done  under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  he  should  be  authorized  to  re 
move  the  said  cause,  by  petition  into  the  circuit  court  of 
the  United  States,  without  any  copy  of  the  record,  and 
that  the  court  should  proceed  to  hear  and  determine  the 
same  as  if  it  had  been  originally  instituted  therein.  And 
that  in  all  cases  of  injuries  to  the  persons  or  property  of 
individuals  for  disobedience  to  the  ordinance  and  laws  of 
South  Carolina,  in  pursuance  thereof,  redress  may  be 
sought  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States.  It  may  be  ex 
pedient,  also,  by  modifying  the  resolution  of  the  3d  of 
March,  1791,  to  authorize  the  marshals  to  make  the  ne 
cessary  provision  for  the  safe  keeping  of  prisoners  com 
mitted  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States. 

Provisions  less  than  these,  consisting,  as  they  do,  for 
the  most  part,  rather  of  a  revival  of  the  policy  of  former 
acts  called  for  by  the  existing  emergency,  than  of  the  in 
troduction  of  any  unusual  or  rigorous  enactments,  would 
not  cause  the  laws  of  the  Union  to  be  properly  respect-* 

VOL.  II.  18* 


258  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ed  or  enforced.  It  is  believed  these  would  prove  ade 
quate,  unless  the  military  forces  of  the  state  of  South 
Carolina,  authorized  by  the  late  act  of  the  legislature, 
should  be  actually  embodied  and  called  out  in  aid  of 
their  proceedings,  and  of  the  provisions  of  the  ordinance 
generally.  Even  in  that  case,  however,  it  is  believed  that 
no  more  will  be  necessary  than  a  few  modifications  of 
its  terms,  to  adapt  the  act  of  1795  to  the  present  emer 
gency,  as  by  that  act  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1792 
were  accommodated  to  the  crisis  then  existing ;  and  by 
conferring  authority  upon  the  President  to  give  it  opera 
tion  during  the  session  of  Congress,  and  without  the  cere 
mony  of  a  proclamation,  whenever  it  shall  be  officially 
made  known  to  him  by  the  authority  of  any  state,  or  by 
the  courts  of  the  United  States,  that,  within  the  limits 
of  such  state,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  will  be  openly 
opposed,  and  their  execution  obstructed  by  the  actual  em 
ployment  of  a  military  force,  or  by  any  unlawful  means 
whatsoever,  too  great  to  be  otherwise  overcome. 

In  closing  this  communication,  I  should  do  injustice  to 
my  own  feelings  not  to  express  my  confident  reliance 
upon  the  disposition  of  each  department  of  the  govern 
ment  to  perform  its  duty,  and  to  co-operate  in  all  mea 
sures  necessary  in  the  present  emergency. 

The  crisis  undoubtedly  invokes  the  fidelity  of  the  pa 
triot  and  the  sagacity  of  the  statesman,  not  more  in  re 
moving  such  portion  of  the  public  burden  as  may  be 
necessary,  than  in  preserving  the  good  order  of  society, 
and  in  the  maintenance  of  well-regulated  liberty. 

While  a  forbearing  spirit  may,  and  I  trust,  will  be  exer 
cised  towards  the  errors  of  our  brethren  in  a  particular 
quarter,  duty  to  the  rest  of  the  Union  demands  that  open 
and  organized  resistance  to  the  laws  should  not  be  execu 
ted  with  impunity. 

The  rich  inheritance  bequeathed  to  our  fathers  has 
devolved  upon  us  the  sacred  obligation  of  preserving  it 
by  the  same  virtues  which  conducted  them  through  the 
eventful  scenes  of  the  revolution,  and  ultimately  crowned 
their  struggle  with  the  noblest  model  of  civil  institutions. 
They  bequeathed  to  us  a  government  of  laws,  and  a  fed 
eral  union  founded  upon  the  great  principle  of  popular 


NULLIFICATION     MESSAGE.  259 

representation.  After  a  successful  experiment  of  forty- 
four  years,  at  a  moment  when  the  government  and  the 
union  are  the  objects  of  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  civil 
liberty  throughout  the  world,  and  in  the  midst  of  public 
and  individual  prosperity  unexampled  in  history,  we  are 
called  to  decide  whether  these  laws  possess  any  force, 
and  that  union  the  means  of  self-preservation.  The  de 
cision  of  this  question  by  an  enlightened  and  patriotic 
people  cannot  be  doubtful.  For  myself,  fellow-citizens, 
devoutly  relying  upon  that  kind  Providence  which  has 
hitherto  watched  over  our  destinies,  and  actuated  by  a 
profound  reverence  for  those  institutions  I  have  so  much 
cause  to  love,  and  for  the  American  people,  whose  par 
tiality  honored  me  with  their  highest  trust,  I  have  deter 
mined  to  spare  no  effort  to  discharge  the  duty  which,  in 
this  conjuncture,  is  devolved  upon  me.  That  a  similar 
spirit  will  actuate  the  representatives  of  the  American 
people  is  not  to  be  questioned ;  and  I  fervently  pray  that 
the  great  Ruler  of  nations  may  so  guide  your  delibera 
tions  and  our  joint  measures,  as  that  they  may  prove 
salutary  examples,  not  only  to  the  present  but  to  future 
times ;  and  solemnly  proclaim  that  the  constitution  and 
the  laws  are  supreme,  and  the  union  indissoluble. 


ADDRESS 

TO    THE 

YOUNG  MEN  AND  TO  THE  PEOPLE 

OF   AMERICA 


DEMOCRACY  is  the  institution  of  government  by  the 
many,  for  the  common  good.  Its  snergy  is  derived  from 
the  will  of  the  people ;  its  object  is  the  welfare  of  the 
people  ;  its  strength  is  in  the  affections  of  the  people.  It 
is  the  most  powerful  element  of  modern  civilization  ;  it  is 
the  greatest  discovery  ever  made  in  political  science. 

I  call  it  a  discovery ;  and  designedly.  It  was  a  dis 
covery,  and  not  a  creation.  Bad  laws  may  be  the  mere 
conceptions  of  the  human  mind  ;  good  laws  never  can 
be  ;  for  good  laws  depend  upon  existing  relations,  which 
the  wise  lawgiver  observes,  and  embodies  in  his  code. 
Our  fathers  proclaimed  the  principles  of  democracy,  but 
did  not  create  them.  They  were  coeval  with  the  first 
conception  of  order  in  the  divine  mind,  and  are  as  per 
vading  and  as  extensive  as  moral  existence.  Like  Chris 
tianity,  and  like  all  moral  principles,  they  are  eternal  in 
their  truth  and  in  their  obligation. 

The  whig  doctrine  is  not  peculiar  to  late  years,  or  even 
to  late  centuries ;  the  passions  in  human  nature  on  which 
parties  are  founded,  were  always  the  same;  and  the  whig 
doctrine,  under  much  the  same  form  as  at  present,  has 
been  reproduced,  wherever  privileged  wealth  has  strug 
gled  for  dominion.  It  has  been,  in  all  ages,  the  strong- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  261 

hold  of  those  who  desire  to  erect  barriers  against  the 
people,  to  resist  the  progress  of  enfranchisement,  and  to 
subject  the  voice,  and  the  conscience,  and  the  rights  of 
the  many,  to  the  interests,  and  privileges,  and  ambition 
of  the  few. 

The  principles  of  democracy  were  brought  to  our  shores 
by  the  breezes  that  wafted  the  Mayflower  across  the  At 
lantic.  The  pilgrims  did  not  come  for  wealth,  but  for 
liberty  ;  they  describe  themselves  as  alike  "removed  from 
gentry  and  from  beggary."  "  In  our  native  land,"  say 
they,  "  we  were  accustomed  to  no  more  than  a  plain  coun 
try  life,  and  the  innocent  trade  of  husbandry."  "  We  hold 
ourselves,"  they  continue,  "  strongly  tied  to  all  care  of 
each  other's  good,  and  of  the  whole."  And  when,  amidst 
the  storms  of  winter,  the  precious  bark  anchored  within 
the  waters  of  Massachusetts,  all  the  emigrants  assembled 
in  convention  to  institute  a  government  for  themselves ; 
to  frame  "just  and  equal  laws  for  the  general  good." 
Then  it  was  that  the  precedents  of  American  democracy 
began.  In  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  humanity  raised 
its  banner,  inscribing  on  its  folds,  "  EQUAL  LAWS  FOR 

THE    GENERAL    GOOD." 

Were  I  to  proceed  and  recount  all  the  incidents  which 
illustrate  the  democratic  spirit  of  early  New  England,  it 
would  fill  a  volume.  She  was  not  founded  for  the  ser 
vice  of  Mammon  ;  she  was  not  cradled  in  the  devices  of 
vvhiggism  ;  but,  in  the  true  spirit  of  democracy,  New 
England  was  settled  by  way  of  towns ;  each  separate  vil 
lage  was  a  real  and  perfect  democracy  within  itself;  each 
town-meeting  was  a  convention  of  its  people ;  all  the  in 
habitants,  the  affluent  and  the  needy,  the  wise  and  the 
foolish,  were  equal  members  of  the  little  legislature. 
Truth  won  its  victories  in  a  fair  field,  where  pride,  not 


262  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

less  than  benevolence,  might  join  in  the  debate ;  where 
selfishness  could  secure  no  special  favors  ;  where  justice 
and  learning  claimed  no  privilege.  Our  town  meetings 
were  the  schools  in  which  our  lawgivers  were  educated  ; 
and  these  bear  in  perfection  the  impress  of  democracy. 

The  same  remark  applies  to  the  village  church.  True 
religion  can  never  become  the  ally  of  avarice.  Chris 
tianity  burst  the  shackles  of  superstition,  broke  the 
seals  that  rested  on  the  destinies  of  man,  and  shed  the 
pleasant  light  that  shall  enfranchise  the  world.  I  know 
that  foul  calumny  has  loudly  asserted,  and  still  secretly 
whispers,  that  democracy  favors  infidelity.  The  charge 
implies  ignorance  not  less  than  corrupt  malevolence. 
The  masses  of  mankind  NEVER  favored  infidelity.  Irrc- 
ligion  is  not  a  trait  of  humanity.  Infidelity  is  the  off 
spring  of  aristocracy ;  it  flourishes  most  where  pride  and 
abundance  curb  the  passions  least.  You  cannot  find, 
throughout  the  globe,  one  single  nation,  civilized  or 
savage,  not  a  scattered  tribe,  not  an  insulated  horde, 
where  there  is  not  among  the  masses,  faith  in  God,  in 
the  soul,  and  in  the  duty  of  self-denial.  The  United 
States,  eminently  the  land  of  democracy,  is  the  most 
religious  country  on  earth.  The  people  of  every  nation 
adore  a  superior  intelligence,  bury  their  dead,  and  possess 
the  institution  of  marriage.  The  people  of  the  United 
States,  where  civil  arid  religious  liberty  are  most  fully 
developed,  is  the  most  religious  people  on  earth.  The 
enfranchising  principle  is  a  purifying  principle.  The 
odious  doctrines  of  materialism  were  generated  in  the 
abodes  of  despotism  ;  democracy,  following  the  counsels 
of  religion,  exults  in  "  the  reality  of  spiritual  light." 

That  spiritual  light  may  dawn  upon  every  mind.  It 
shines  in  upon  the  cottage  as  freely  as  on  prouder 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  263 

mansions.  The  universal  diffusion  of  the  powers  of 
mind  and  heart  proves  the  capacity  of  the  human  race 
for  advancement.  And  hence  it  is,  that  democracy,  by 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  cherishes  that  other  New 
England  institution,  the  system  of  common  schools;  the 
happiest  institution  of  the  reformation.  The  system  of 
free  schools,  in  every  land  that  it  can  reach,  will  break 
up  religious  bigotry,  will  eradicate  superstition,  will  un 
dermine  aristocracy,  and  lead  inevitably  to  the  freedom 
and  power  of  the  people.  Nor  let  us  suppose  that  every 
thing  has  yet  been  done  for  common  schools  in  New 
England.  Democracy  is  pledged  to  new  efforts  for  the 
diffusion  of  truth  and  the  increase  of  the  relative  number 
of  active  and  inquiring  minds.  Here,  as  every  where, 
the  rule  is,  union  and  progress  ;  to  count  as  nothing  what 
has  been  gained,  but  to  press  forward  towards  further 
improvement  in  the  intellectual  and  moral  condition  of 
the  people.  Mind  is  universal ;  and  its  universal  culture 
is  the  best  protection  of  the  natural  equality  of  the  race, 
and  the  surest  means  of  its  constant  advancement.  The 
analysis  of  truth  is  a  slow  process  ;  tiie  perception  of 
truth  that  has  once  been  analyzed,  is  immediate  and 
easy.  Whole  generations  of  inquirers  sometimes  pass 
away,  having  made  but  few  advances  in  science;  while 
their  successors  safely  and  rapidly  move  over  the  ground 
once  explored.  The  village  lad  who  reads  the  blessed 
truths  of  Christianity  in  the  plain  simplicity  of  the  gospel 
narrative,  knows  more  of  God,  and  Providence,  and 
duty,  than  the  wisest  sage  of  the  ancient  world  ;  the 
farmer's  boy,  by  honest  application  of  his  mind  to  study, 
may  in  two  years  pass  far  beyond  the  bounds  which 
limited  the  genius  of  Newton  ;  the  common  sailor,  with 
his  quadrant,  easily  masters  principles,  which  acute  and 


264  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

powerful  minds  in  the  course  of  a  century  had  slowly 
evolved;  and  the  little  girl  on  the  lower  forms  of  the 
common  school,  in  a  few  weeks  learns  more  of  geogra 
phy  than  all  that  was  known  to  Columbus,  when  he  started 
for  the  discovery  of  a  world.  The  analysis  of  the  prin 
ciples  of  government  is  likewise  a  result  of  experience 
and  observation  ;  and  as  the  experience  of  America  on 
the  forms  and  effects  of  self-government  exceeds  that  of 
all  the  rest  of  the  world,  it  is  hazarding  but  little  to  say, 
that  as  our  system  of  common  schools  shall  be  improved, 
every  American  youth  may  easily  become  imbued  with 
sound  principles  of  public  right,  a  knowledge  of  the 
nature,  the  tendencies,  and  the  duties  of  democracy,  far 
beyond  all  that  has  become  but  faintly  known  to  the 
wisest  of  European  statesmen. 

Our  fathers  were  exiles  for  conscience'  sake;  they 
came  to  the  wilderness  for  freedom  of  religion ;  they 
were  of  the  reformed  religion  ;  men  who  dissented  from 
the  forms  of  dissent;  men  who  were  forced  to  push  the 
principles  of  natural  liberty  to  their  remote  conclusions, 
in  order  to  defend  their  separation  from  European  creeds. 
They  were  all  members  of  plebeian  sects,  adherents  to 
creeds  that  sprung  up  among  the  people.  It  was  in  the 
midst  of  penury  and  want,  in  sight  of  the  wretchedness 
of  the  enslaved  peasantry  and  the  crimes  of  a  corrupt 
priesthood,  that  the  still  small  voice  for  freedom  of  con 
science  and  emancipation  of  labor  was  first  raised  by  the 
Baptists.  The  reformers  whom  our  fathers  followed, 
sprang  from  the  people  and  dwelt  with  the  people;  they 
were  PLEBEIANS  ALL  ;  they  wore  no  crown  but  the  crown 
of  thorns ;  they  gathered  no  treasures  but  such  as  cannot 
be  taken  away  ;  they  had  no  grandeur  but  the  grandeur 
of  making  themselves  the  benefactors  of  humanity. 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  265 

Or  will  you  look  to  those  later  reformers,  who  in  a 
nearer  century  themselves  visited  our  shores  ?  Will  you 
follow  the  steps  of  the  meek  and  patient  Wesley ;  will 
you  see  him  now  waking  the  echoes  of  Christianity  in 
the  depths  of  the  forests,  and  now  cherishing  the  aspira 
tions  of  innocence  in  our  cities  ?  seeking  out  the  bruised 
spirit,  that  he  might  heal  its  wounds,  and  making  his 
way  to  every  abode  that  misfortune  or  sorrow  had  entered 
before  him  ;  comforting  the  oppressed,  and  remembering 
the  neglected  ?  I  ask  you,  if  from  such  a  root  aristo 
cracy  can  rise  ?  I  demand,  if  from  that  well-spring  of 
truth  you  draw  the  doctrine  that  wealth  may  be  deified  ? 
No,  my  friends !  the  infancy  of  these  New  England 
states  was  cradled  in  the  simplicity  of  love,  and  watched 
by  the  angels  of  heaven  ;  the  brightest  lights  of  all  time, 
the  most  gifted  minds  among  the  guides  of  humanity, 
went  as  a  cloud  of  glory  before  their  steps ;  and  from 
the  earliest  dawn,  the  gospel  of  liberty,  like  the  gospel 
of  all  truth,  shed  its  hallowed  beams  over  the  rising 
settlements,  whispering  its  words  of  freedom  and  of 
peace.  Thus  the  motives  which  led  our  fathers  to  plant 
the  rock-bound  coasts  of  New  England  were  all  in  har 
mony  with  democracy. 

Arid  why  should  we  not  stand  in  the  ancient  paths? 
What  motive  have  we  for  not  rallying  to  the  standard  of 
popular  liberty?  Why  should  not  we  feed  the  sacred 
flame,  and  transmit  it  in  new  brilliancy  to  the  next  gene 
ration? 

In  New  Hampshire  the  first  settlements  were  estab 
lished  according  to  the  precedent  of  Plymouth;  and  the 
towns  of  Portsmouth  and  Dover  and  Exeter  were  estab 
lished,  according  to  the  principles  of  natural  right,  as  so 
many  little  republics  in  the  wilderness.  And  here  I  can- 
VOL.  ii.  23 


266  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

not  but  observe,  what  I  shall  have  occasion  to  repeat, 
how  democracy  derives  its  strength  from  the  influence  of 
religion.  Our  fathers  always  came  attended  by  their  re* 
ligious  teachers ;  they  were  led  into  the  wilderness  by 
Aaron  as  well  as  by  Moses;  and  in  those  days,  when 
England  attempted  to  intimidate  the  infant  settlements  of 
New  England,  she  always  directed  her  menaces  against 
the  clergy.  And  do  you  think  the  ministers  of  God  gave 
way  ?  Do  you  think  they  fled  before  the  panic  that  an 
English  monarch  could  conjure  up  ?  No  !  Of  the  clergy 
of  the  first  century  in  New  England  there  was  not  a  tory 
among  them  all.  They  were  not  reeds  shaken  with  the 
wind.  They  were  the  first  to  set  their  foot  in  the  waters, 
and  there  to  stand  till  danger  was  past.  When  Rev.  Mr. 
John  Higginson  was  summoned  before  Andros  to  say  by 
what  right  our  people  held  their  franchises,  the  brave 
man  made  answer,  "  BY  THE  GRAND  CHARTER  OF  GOD." 
When  the  Rev.  John  Wise,  the  Hampden  of  America, 
was  taken  into  custody  that  he  might  be  tormented  into 
paying  an  illegal  tax,  he  went  to  jail,  where  he  would 
have  died,  sooner  than  have  set  the  example  of  derelic 
tion,  for  he  used  to  say,  "  DEMOCRACY  is  Christ's  govern 
ment  in  state  and  church."  This  was,  in  an  eminent 
degree,  the  spirit  which  pervaded  New  Hampshire. 
When  King  Charles  II.  imposed  upon  that  colony  a  roy 
al  governor,  he  attempted  to  levy  illegal  taxes ;  but  not 
a  single  citizen  would  pay  them.  At  Hampton,  the  she 
riff,  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  was  put  on  horse 
back  and  escorted  out  of  town ;  in  Exeter,  the  farmers' 
wives  heated  brimming  kettles  of  water  to  scald  the  re 
probate  deputy  who  should  dare  to  attempt  collection ; 
and  when  the  governor  in  despair  ordered  out  the  militia, 
the  militia  were  the  people,  and  refused  obedience.  In 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  267 

the  parish  church  of  Portsmouth  there  was  but  one  roy 
alist  ;  him  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moody  subjected  to  censure 
from  the  church  ;  and,  when  the  governor  expostulated, 
Mr.  Moody  wrote  a  sermon  against  the  governor  himself. 
"  The  people  of  New  Hampshire,"  said  Gov.  Cranfield, 
the  governor  of  that  day,  and  a  most  excellent  whig  he 
afterwards  proved  himself  to  be,  "  are  factious  and  ma 
lignant  ;  unless  these  factious  preachers  are  turned  out 
of  the  province,  it  will  be  impossible  to  enforce  his  ma 
jesty's  commands. — I  shall  esteem  it  the  greatest  happi 
ness  in  the  world  to  be  allowed  to  remove  from  these  un 
reasonable  people."  The  governor  returned  to  England  ; 
the  clergy  continued  to  preach ;  the  people  remained  fac- 
tiously  fond  of  liberty ;  and,  from  that  day  to  this,  it  has 
been  pretty  well  understood,  that  in  the  heart  of  a  New 
Hampshire  man,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  the  love  for 
democratic  liberty  is  planted  as  firmly  as  the  everlasting 
granite  in  the  mountains  of  the  GRANITE  STATE. 

From  the  hills  of  New  Hampshire  turn  now  your  eyes 
to  the  shores  of  the  Narragansett,  where  the  rival  of 
Descartes  invoked  the  blessings  of  PROVIDENCE  on  the 
spot  where  the  lovers  of  "  SOUL-LIBERTY  "  planted  their 
abode.  The  government  which  Roger  Williams  esta 
blished,  was  a  government  of  the  people ;  his  spirit  har 
bored  a  lofty  confidence  in  his  fellow-men.  The  will 
of  the  majority  controlled  the  rising  colony  "  in  civil 
things  ;"  of  the  conscience  there  was  no  inquisitor  but 
God.  "  To  exercise  power  over  conscience,"  said  they, 
"  we  do  hold  to  be  a  point  of  absolute  cruelty."  So  in 
tense  was  the  spirit  of  democracy  among  the  little  band, 
the  rumor  went  abroad,  that  "  they  would  have  no  magis 
trates."  But  then  say  their  records,  "  Our  POPULARITIE 
shall  not,  as  some  conjecture  it  will,  prove  an  anarchic, 


268  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

and  so  a  common  tyrannie ;  for  we  are  exceedingly  de 
sirous,"  such  is  ever  the  rule  among  the  friends  of  de 
mocracy,  "  to  preserve  every  man  safe  in  his  person, 
name,  and  estate." 

Or  will  you  turn  to  another  scene  in  the  early  days  of 
New  England?  Behold  the  handful  of  emigrants  esca 
ping  from  Boston  to  Rhode  Island  ;  Miantonomoh,  the 
chief  of  the  Narragansetts,  welcomes  them  to  his  terri 
tory  ;  and  affection  for  Roger  Williams  induces  the  sa 
vage  hero  to  bestow  on  the  exiles  the  beautiful  island  of 
Rhode  Island.  And  there  the  little  band  of  herdsmen 
and  shepherds  assemble  to  the  sound  of  a  drum,  on  the 
sea  side  ;  the  roar  of  the  waves  within  their  hearing, 
and  no  canopy  but  the  canopy  of  heaven  over  their 
heads.  And  what  government  do  you  think  these  exiles 
framed?  What  but  a  government  of  themselves?  "We 
do  unanimously  agree,"  such  are  the  words  of  their  re 
cords,  "  that  the  government  which  this  body  politic  doth 
attend  unto  is  a  DEMOCRACIE,  or  popular  government; 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  body  of  freemen, 
orderly  assembled,  or  major  part  of  them,  to  make  or 
constitute  just  laws,  by  which  they  will  be  regulated  ; 
and  to  depute  from  among  themselves  such  ministers  as 
shall  see  them  faithfully  executed  between  man  and  man." 
Such  was  the  beautiful  institution  of  government  in 
Rhode  Island;  the  little  community,  as  democrats  always 
ought  to  do,  loved  one  another ;  and  the  signet  for  the 
state  was  a  sheaf  of  arrows,  with  the  inscription,  "  Love 
shall  conquer  all  things." 

The  early  settlements  on  Connecticut  River  were 
equally  established  in  the  forms  and  in  the  spirit  of  de 
mocracy.  The  people  of  Connecticut, — and  the  rule  did 
not  vary  essentially  in  the  upper  towns, — instituted  their 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  269 

own  government ;  and  every  inhabitant  was  invested  with 
the  elective  franchise.  The  first  day  on  which  the  "  plea 
sant  banks"  of  that  river  were  colonized,  was  the  first 
day  of  unmixed  popular  freedom  for  the  rising  common 
wealth  ;  and  Jefferson,  observing  in  its  forms  of  govern 
ment  the  principles  he  loved,  used  always  to  say  of  Con 
necticut  that  her  original  institutions  were  democratic. 
Every  officer  in  the  land  was  elected  directly  or  indirectly 
by  the  people.  Legislation  was  mild  and  humane.  The 
whole  annual  expense  of  the  government  did  not  exceed 
the  salary  of  a  royal  governor.  The  judges,  like  other 
laborers,  were  paid  for  their  services  by  the  day.  The 
busy  hum  of  the  wheel  told  the  tale  of  domestic  indus 
try  ;  and  the  flax  from  the  fields,  and  the  wool  from  the 
folds,  were  woven  at  home.  In  the  world  of  fashion  no 
one  had  precedence  of  the  farmer's  wife  and  the  farmer's 
daughters  ;  the  costliest  equipage  was  a  pillion  ;  and  the 
home-spun  gown,  woven  from  flax,  and  colored  with  cop 
peras  and  otter,  and  the  snow-white  flaxen  apron,  were 
the  richest  luxuries  of  dress,  carefully  reserved  for  the 
decorum  of  the  Sabbath.  The  husbandman  who  tilled 
his  own  soil,  and  fatted  his  own  beeves,  was  the  great 
man  of  the  land.  There  were  no  vast  inequalities  of 
condition  ;  the  lands  were  divided  according  to  rules  that 
seemed  equitable  ;  and  a  larger  house  or  a  fuller  barn 
was  the  chief  distinction  of  rural  wealth.  Every  man 
labored,  and  industry  and  frugality  produced  abundance. 
And  what  room  was  there  to  fear  want?  The  trees  of 
the  forest  dropped  juices,  from  which  sugar  was  refined  ; 
the  river  was  alive  with  shad  and  salmon;  the  roe-buck 
and  the  fallow  deer  yielded  venison,  equal  to  that  which 
won  the  blessing  of  the  patriarch.  It  was  the  golden  age 
of  New  England ;  when  the  country  was,  as  it  were,  ena- 
VOL.  ii.  23* 


270  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

meled  with  virtues,  and  pure  affections  bloomed  through 
the  villages  like  flowers  in  the  fields.  It  was  the  age  of 
equality;  humanity  was  the  Genius  of  the  land;  and 
every  family,  happy  in  its  simple  enjoyments,  as  the  labor 
of  the  day  began  and  as  it  ended,  looked  upward  to  God 
as  the  author  of  all  good.  The  whole  earth  could  not 
exhibit  a  community  comparable  to  it  for  public  happiness. 
Nor  let  it  be  deemed  surprising  that  the  husbandmen 
on  the  Connecticut  made  such  rapid  advances  in  political 
science.  No  adverse  interest  disinclined  them  to  the 
welfare  of  the  people.  They  consulted  the  oracle  within 
their  breasts ;  and  the  invisible  Egeria  whose  inspirations 
they  followed,  was  the  still,  small  voice  of  conscience. 
They  "  FELT  the  beauty  and  loveliness"  of  moral  truth 
applied  to  politics,  of  a  legislation  resting  on  general 
principles.  Conscience  is  the  light  within  every  man,  to 
be  reverenced.  It  sheds  its  guiding  beams  on  every  mind  ; 
it  makes  itself  heard  in  terror  to  the  guilty ;  it  whispers 
consolation  to  the  gentle  and  the  benevolent.  It  is  like 
the  magnet,  which  is  the  same  in  every  ship,  under  what 
ever  flag  it  may  sail ;  and  points  truly  to  the  North  in  the 
pirate  not  less  than  in  the  merchantman.  Conscience  is 
the  cynosure  of  truth,  the  oracle  of  duty.  Away  with  the 
false  and  heartless  maxim,  that  truth  dwells  in  dark  places ; 
that  she  lies  hid  in  the  bottom  of  a  well ;  that  she  can  be 
reached  only  by  the  vigor  of  the  most  powerful  intellect. 
Error  delights  in  darkness  and  confusion,  and  it  requires 
all  the  energy  of  giant  minds  to  sustain  the  delusions  on 
which  a  selfish  aristocracy  rest  their  pretensions;  but 
truth  is  a  social  spirit ;  her  home  is  in  the  heart  of  the 
people,  in  the  breast  of  the  race ;  she  rests  her  head  se 
renely  on  the  bosom  of  humanity.  Error  demands  the 
efforts  of  genius  to  conceal  her  behind  sophisms,  to  pro- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  271 

tect  her  by  false  terrors,  to  invoke  superstition  for  her 
defence;  but  truth  dwells  in  every  cottage,  communes 
with  the  unlearned  as  well  as  the  learned,  goes  forth  with 
the  shepherd  upon  the  mountain  side,  and  joins  the  family 
group  that  welcomes  the  return  of  the  laborer.  She 
gambols  with  childhood ;  she  makes  her  home  with  all 
that  love  candor  and  peace ;  she  blesses  every  one  who 
will  hush  the  turbulence  of  selfish  passions  and  listen  to 
her  tranquil  revelations.  In  the  same  degree  in  which 
every  man  can-  love  his  child  or  his  wife,  in  the  same  de 
gree  he  can  feel  the  inspiring  influence  of  moral  truth. 
The  germ  lies  in  the  commonest  mind.  There  is  not 
one  generous  affection,  nor  one  moral  principle,  which 
does  not  exist  in  every  man's  heart.  All  that  the  most 
cultivated  understanding  can  know  of  God,  and  nature, 
and  duty,  lies  in  the  mind  of  each  individual.  Yes,  in 
the  mind  of  the  least  educated  of  our  race.  Only  in  the 
cultivated  mind  it  is  unfolded  ;  in  the  common  mind  it 
lies  like  the  leaf  of  the  fern  in  late  winter,  perfectly 
formed,  yet  still  concealed  in  the  folds,  which  warm  suns 
are  to  develop.  No  one  dares  to  doubt  this,  in  the  case 
of  natural  affection  ;  it  is  not  education  that  teaches  the 
mother  to  love  her  child.  No  one  doubts  this  in  religious 
feeling.  The  sincere  prayer  of  the  humblest  worshipper 
wings  its  way  upward  as  directly  as  if  the  incense  rose 
from  the  Vatican  itself.  The  principle  applies  equally  to 
political  truth  :  there  is  an  instinct  of  liberty ;  a  natural 
perception  of  the  loveliness  and  beauty  of  freedom ;  and 
our  fathers  listened  to  it,  and  took  counsel  of  it.  Its  in 
spiration  made  the  wilderness  glad ;  its  revelations  shed 
light  that  well  might  startle  the  wisest  statesmen  and  phi 
losophers  of  the  old  world.  I  speak  no  new  doctrine.  I 
do  but  repeat  what  was  known  to  our  fathers.  The  gift 


272  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

of  feeling  moral  truth,  of  which  political  science  is  a 
branch,  was  rightly  declared  by  our  fathers  "  to  be  from 
God.  Nothing  the  creature  receives  is  so  much  a  parti 
cipation  of  the  Deity  :  it  is  a  kind  of  emanation  of  God's 
beauty,  and  is  related  to  God  as  light  is  to  the  sun.  It  is 
not  a  thing  that  belongs  to  reason ;  it  depends  on  the 

SENSE    OF    THE    HEART." 

Lay  your  hand  on  your  heart.  It  throbs.  The  farmer 
behind  the  plough  feels  it  beat  in  harmony  with  the  crea 
tion  through  which  he  moves.  Just  so  the  power  to  dis 
cern  good  from  evil,  right  from  wrong,  is  implanted  within 
every  one.  It  is  the  gift  of  God  to  every  man.  God  has 
disfranchised  no  one ;  he  has  cut  off  not  one  from  the  in 
heritance  of  reason.  Wherever  there  is  moral  existence, 
wherever  there  is  a  human  being,  there  also  is  found  the 
gift  of  mind.  There,  within  the  depths  of  conscience, 
Virtue  has  erected  her  tribunal ;  there  an  arbiter  is  estab 
lished  to  decree  what,  in  the  face  of  humanity  and  of 
the  Infinite  Mind,  shall  be  acknowledged  as  justice. 

Democracy  is,  therefore,  the  power  of  justice,  as  che 
rished  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  as  interpreted  and  en 
forced  by  the  public  mind. 

I  know  it  will  be  said,  that  the  power  of  the  people 
will  not,  of  necessity,  be  the  government  of  justice,  and 
that  the  result  of  the  recent  Presidential  election  may  be 
cited  as  proof  of  the  assertion.  We  admit  that  a  major 
ity  of  the  people  have  sometimes  been  found  arrayed  in 
opposition  to  truth  and  justice — that  fraud,  falsehood,  and 
other  base  practices  have  been,  and  probably  will  again, 
be  successful  in  temporarily  misleading  the  public  mind ; 
of  which  no  better  example  could  perhaps  be  furnished 
than  the  result  of  that  election.  Still  we  deny  that  this 
militates  against  the  correctness  of  the  proposition  we 


ADDRESS    TO   YOUNG   MEN.  273 

have  advanced,  as  a  general  rule.  Notwithstanding  their 
too  great  susceptibility  to  the  influence  of  individual 
wealth  and  corporate  power,  we  must  ultimately  look  for 
the  true  interpretation  of  justice  only  to  the  sober  second 
thought  of  the  whole  people. 

Let  us  analyze  this  matter  minutely.  If  the  expression 
of  the  public  mind  is  not  to  be  acknowledged  as  the  inter 
preter  of  justice,  and  we  are  to  look  to  a  fraction,  that 
fraction  must  be  the  purest,  or  the  strongest,  or  the  wealth 
iest,  or  the  wisest. 

If  we  look  to  the  purest  for  oracles  of  justice,  we  at 
once  get  as  a  political  power  a  priesthood  or  a  church. 
We  get  an  aristocracy  of  priests,  or  an  aristocracy  of 
church  members.  How  unwise  the  first  is,  has  been 
ploughed  deeply  into  the  history  of  mankind.  For  the 
political  exaltation  of  a  priesthood  brings  with  it  a  con 
cession  of  a  monopoly  of  moral  truth.  It  binds  the  mind 
in  fetters  ;  it  proclaims  the  slavery  of  the  soul;  thus  de 
stroying  freedom  at  its  source,  and  with  freedom  destroy 
ing  the  possibility  of  public  virtue  and  justice.  New 
England  has  had  an  example  of  an  aristocracy  of  church 
members,  in  the  early  history  of  Massachusetts ;  and  the 
record  of  its  fatal  tendency  is  written  in  acts  of  bigotry, 
and  in  letters  of  blood. 

The  aristocracy  of  the  strongest  has  also  been  tried. 
It  is  the  feudal  system,  and  the  system  of  each  modern 
military  despotism,  giving  dominion  to  brute  force.  It  is 
the  system  which  despises  freedom,  and  annihilates  mind. 
This  form  of  aristocracy,  far  from  aspiring  to  interpret 
justice,  aims  only  at  asserting  its  own  will. 

The  fraction  of  the  wealthy  next  urges  its  claim.  This 
claim  is  more  frequently  maintained.  It  is  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  found  government  on  property,  says  Webster, 


274  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

giving  utterance  to  the  creed  of  our  American  modem 
whigs.  The  poet  Addison,  once  secretary  of  state,  was 
a  good  English  whig  in  his  day.  He  maintained  the 
same  opinion. 

Now,  to  every  rich  man  there  are  two  things : — First, 
he  is  a  man ;  as  such,  democracy  respects  him,  and  gives 
him  equal  rights.  Next  is  his  wealth;  but  wealth  is 
blind.  It  cannot  reason,  and  it  cannot  feel.  The  money 
bag  has  neither  heart  nor  mind.  The  love  of  riches  is  a 
base  passion.  If  government  is  surrendered  to  it,  then 
the  question  will  be,  "What  will  be  said  of  this  measure 
by  the  speculators  in  real  estate?  What  will  be  thought 
of  it  by  the  bears  and  bulls  in  the  stock-market?"  There 
fore  democracy  rejects  the  government  of  wealth.  She 
insists  on  putting  the  question,  not  to  note-shavers  and 
money-makers,  not  to  those  who  are  rich,  and  struggling 
to  grow  richer,  but  to  conscience  and  to  mind. 

The  fraction  of  the  learned  comes  next — the  wise  men 
after  the  flesh.  Excellent  as  men  of  learning  are  in  their 
place,  I  should  be  loath  to  resign  the  government  of  the 
country  into  the  hands  of  college  professors  or  the  learned 
of  the  land.  For  learning  has  a  pride  and  an  arrogance 
of  its  own.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  great  pro 
gress  in  science  and  government  has  not  been  made  at 
universities.  Qur  fathers  were  outcasts  from  the  uni 
versities;  and  Oxford  in  England  taught  the  doctrine  of 
passive  obedience  to  kings,  long  after  Hooker  and  Haynes 
had  founded  government  in  Connecticut  on  undivided 
obedience  to  God.  When  the  angel  of  advancing  reform 
knocks  at  the  gate  of  our  colleges,  he  is  too  often  met 
with  a  rebuff,  and  compelled,  as  in  the  days  of  the  patri 
arch,  to  go  out  and  break  bread  with  the  herdsman  be 
neath  a  tree.  And  though  a  hearty  sympathy  witn  popu- 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  275 

lar  liberty  is  the  sole  condition  on  which  an  American 
scholar  can  hope  for  enduring  fame,  or  a  college  can  at 
tain  highest  success,  it  still  proves  hard  for  the  very 
learned  to  acknowledge  that  learning  is  but  a  cistern,  and 
that  in  every  mind  there  is  a  living  fountain  of  truth. 
Therefore  it  is  that  Lord  Bacon  holds  it  necessary  for  the 
inquirer  to  become  as  a  little  child,  or  he  cannot  hope  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  intelligence ;  and  we  have 
good  authority  for  believing  that  Heaven,  in  its  high  pur 
poses  of  reform,  selects  for  its  agents  not  many  wise  after 
the  flesh.  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the 
world  to  confound  the  wise,  and  God  hath  chosen  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things  which 
are  mighty. 

Thus  justice  refuses  to  plead  before  a  fraction  of  the 
people.  She  establishes  her  open  tribunal,  and  seeks  a 
decree  in  harmony  with  conscience  and  the  voice  of  God, 
by  appointing  the  whole  people  as  the  umpire  and  sove 
reign  arbiter. 

Democracy  regards  government  as  springing  from  the 
necessity  implanted  in  man's  nature.  Wherever  there 
are  human  beings,  wherever  there  are  intelligent  life  and 
freedom,  there,  also,  the  inward  voice  of  God  in  the  soul 
commands  society  to  be  instituted. 

When  the  people  assemble  in  convention  to  settle  the 
FORMS  of  government,  they  do  not  create  government, 
they  only  institute  it.  The  office  of  the  members  of  a 
convention  is,  to  inquire  what  justice  commands.  They 
do  not  arbitrarily  create  forms  ;  they  do  but  ask  after  the 
forms  which  are  best  adapted  to  the  great  ends  of  socie 
ty.  And  not  claiming  for  themselves  infallibility,  they 
do  not  regard  their  work  as  an  inviolable  compact,  but 
as  an  institution  to  be  amended,  reformed,  and  perfected, 


276  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

as  fast  as  the  increase  of  knowledge  and  uprightness  shall 
demand. 

Thus  democracy  rests  government  on  the  strongest 
possible  foundation ; — on  the  law  of  God  in  the  soul  of 
man.  It  seeks  to  establish  fundamental  laws,  in  confor 
mity  to  the  immutable  principles  of  never-changing  jus 
tice.  And  as  the  race  is  constantly  advancing  in  intelli 
gence,  democracy  secures  to  the  people  the  right  to  make 
constant  progress  in  the  form  of  government.  Thus  the 
people  have  taken  care  to  provide  a  method  for  amend 
ing  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

In  framing  a  constitution,  democracy  demands  that  in 
every  branch  of  government,  that  system  shall  be  adopt 
ed  which  permits  the  most  ready  and  certain  career  to 
the  expression  of  the  public  conviction.  The  form  which 
leaves  power  nearest  the  people,  is  the  form  chosen  by  de 
mocracy. 

First,  then,  it  asserts  the  doctrine  of  universal  fran 
chise  in  the  election  of  legislators.  The  whole  people 
must  participate  in  the  appointing  power,  and  must  par 
ticipate  in  it  directly. 

The  legislators  thus  elected  are  but  trustees  of  the 
people  ;  therefore  responsible  ;  and  swift  responsibility  is 
secured  by  frequent  elections.  Here  we,  of  New  Eng 
land,  have  cause  of  gratitude  to  our  forefathers. 

If  office  is  a  burden,  it  should  not  be  forced  upon  a 
few ;  if  it  be  a  benefit,  it  should  be  dispensed  as  widely 
as  possible.  To  this  end  democracy  enjoins  rotation  in 
office. 

The  governor  of  a  commonwealth  is,  in  the  eye  of  de 
mocracy,  the  representative  of  its  people,  and,  as  such, 
is  bound  to  watch  over  their  freedom  and  protect  their 
rights.  The  president  of  the  United  States  is,  in  like 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG   MEN.  277 

manner,  the  representative  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States ;  and,  as  a  faithful  representative,  he  is  bound  to 
sustain  the  power  of  the  people. 

Hence  it  is,  that,  in  the  true  spirit  of  democracy,  the 
people  have  intrusted  him  with  a  tribunitial  power.  He 
is,  by  the  constitution,  the  grand  tribune  of  the  people, 
possessing  for  the  people  the  power  of  a  VETO,  bound  to 
restrain  the  aristocratic  tendencies  of  legislation,  and  to 
negative  every  law  that  interferes  with  the  constitution, 
\vith  freedom,  with  popular  power.  The  corrupt  and 
corrupting  influence  of  a  gigantic  moneyed  aristocra 
cy  was  arrested  by  the  tribunitial  act  of  Andrew  Jack 
son.  The  whole  country,  the  world,  now  recognizes  the 
justice  of  that  act. 

And  this  brings  me  to  the  great  executive  question  of 
the  SWORD  and  the  PURSE. 

If  the  sword  is  to  be  used  at  all,  it  must  certainly  be  to 
execute  the  laws  ordained  by  the  people,  and,  when  the 
sad  necessity  occurs,  must  be  used  by  the  executive.  God 
forbid  it  should  ever  be  used  except  in  conformity  to  law, 
by  those  who  are  bound  to  execute  the  law  !  But  against 
its  unjust  use  democracy  erects  barriers.  In  relation  to 
individuals,  a  trial  in  open  court,  and  a  verdict  by  a  jury, 
must  precede  the  punishment  of  a  capital  crime. 

As  it  regards  the  people,  a  legislative  act  must  of  ne 
cessity  precede  the  use  of  the  sword.  Democracy,  I 
have  said,  is  reason  ruling  through  the  people.  It  there 
fore  never  can  begin  an  offensive  war  ;  and,  if  it  could 
pervade  the  civilized  world,  there  would  be  an  end  of  all 
wars.  The  sword  would  be  beaten  into  the  ploughshare 
and  the  sickle,  and  the  din  of  arms  would  be  hushed  in 
the  peaceful  reign  of  justice.  But  as,  in  our  imperfect 
state  of  society,  the  possession  of  arms  is  needed  forself- 
VOL.  n.  24 


278  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

defence,  the  employment  of  military  force  is  forbidden 
except  under  an  act  of  legislation.  Thus  the  courts  of 
justice,  the  people's  jury,  the  legislature,  the  people  them 
selves,  stand  between  the  executive  and  the  wrongful  use 
of  the  sword.  I  have  no  apprehension  of  tyranny,  not 
withstanding  the  governor  in  each  New  England  com 
monwealth  possesses  the  sword.  Nay,  rather,  I  hold  it 
as  an  evidence  of  advancing  civilization,  that,  in  the 
United  States,  "  the  military  is,  in  all  cases,  and  at  all 
times,  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power." 

In  like  manner,  the  executive  must,  by  the  very  nature 
of  the  case,  have  from  the  public  purse  the  moneys  need 
ed  by  the  public  appropriations.  Who  shall  keep  the 
revenue  ?  Democracy  answers,  The  officers  of  the  peo 
ple  ;  those  who  are  appointed  for  that  purpose  by  the 
people  themselves :  if  the  people  intrust  the  appointing 
power  to  the  president,  then  the  officers  whom  the  presi 
dent  shall  appoint  under  the  constitution  and  the  laws. 
The  constitution  of  the  United  States  is  explicit  on  this 
subject;  it  declares,  in  emphatic  language,  that  "  no  mo 
ney  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but  in  consequence 
of  appropriations  made  by  law." 

But  this  does  not  satisfy  the  aristocracy.  That  aris 
tocracy  wishes,  in  advance  of  appropriations  made  by 
law,  to  take  all  the  public  revenue  out  of  the  treasury  of 
the  people,  and  place  it  where  it  will  be  independent  of 
the  government,  and  therefore  independent  of  the  peo 
ple.  Yes,  the  wish  is  to  take  the  revenues  of  the  United 
States  out  of  the  power  and  control  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  and  place  them,  by  a  permanent  law,  in 
the  custody  of  coiporations,  that,  by  their  very  nature, 
are  the  representatives  of  the  aristocracy  of  wealth.  The 
consequence  of  this  is  twofold.  First,  it  gives  to  the 


ADDRESS    TO    JTOUNG  MEN.  279 

moneyed  interest,  through  the  banks,  a  veto  power  on 
every  executive  act ;  for  the  irresponsible  corporations 
may  refuse  to  the  United  States  the  use  of  the  public 
revenues.  And  next,  by  taking  the  public  funds  out  of 
the  custody  of  officers  directly  or  indirectly  appointed  by 
the  people,  it  of  necessity  creates  an  aristocracy,  and 
places  the  treasury  in  the  perpetual  custody  of  corpora 
tions.  We  object  to  appointments  for  life ;  but  this  or 
ganization  of  the  treasury  implies  a  perpetuity  of  trust, 
conferred  on  bodies  which,  though  they  possess  no  moral 
life,  would  yet  never  die,  if  it  were  not  that  every  unjust 
institution  is  essentially  mortal.  The  effect  is,  in  fact, 
to  create,  in  connection  with  the  treasury,  a  perpetuity 
of  office-holders,  and  to  neutralize  and  destroy  a  portion 
of  the  executive  power  by  legislative  enactments,  in  di 
rect  violation  of  the  intention  of  the  constitution. 

The  first  and  most  marked,  the  characteristic  TENDEN 
CY  of  democracy,  is  towards  improvement.  Not  bound 
down  by  experience,  not  satisfied  with  the  results  of  the 
past,  it  is  restless  in  its  struggles  after  advancement  in 
freedom,  in  equality,  in  public  happiness,  in  the  widest 
extension  of  the  benefits  of  civilization.  It  longs  for  a 
brighter  and  a  happier  futurity.  It  does  not  believe  that 
the  legislators  of  old  time  have  established  landmarks  of 
civilization  never  to  be  carried  forward ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  believes  rather  that  the  boundaries  of  civilization  have 
been  constantly  advancing,  and  are  destined  to  be  yet 
more  widely  extended. 

Such  was  the  faith  of  Jefferson,  and  his  public  life  was 
in  harmony  with  it.  His  first  great  act  in  the  American 
Congress  was  to  write,  in  letters  of  light,  the  new  doc 
trine  of  the  independence  of  America,  and  to  connect 
with  that  independence  the  great  ideas  of  the  rights  o{ 


280  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

man.  His  proclamation  to  the  world,  on  taking  the  oath 
of  office  as  president,  was,  Freedom  of  Inquiry,  and  the 
Power  of  the  People  ;  that  is,  the  right  to  discover  new 
truth,  and  to  embody  that  truth  in  legislation;  and  in  his 
latest  old  age,  beautiful  visions  of  the  future  still  floated 
before  his  eyes,  and  even  to  the  hour  of  death,  in  the 
calm  serenity  that  springs  from  faith  in  human  progress, 
he  gave  up  his  spirit  to  God,  from  whom  it  emanated, 
with  the  tranquillizing  words,  "  Now,  Lord,  lettest  thou 
thy  servant  depart  in  peace." 

This  constant  hope  of  progress  is  denounced  by  our 
opponents  as  destructive  of  present  institutions — a  war 
against  the  past.  But,  in  truth,  democracy  is  not  de 
structive ;  she  makes  no  war  on  the  past;  she  plans  no 
overthrow  of  the  present.  On  the  contrary,  she  garners 
up  and  bears  along  with  her  all  the  truths  that  past  gene 
rations  have  discovered  ;  she  will  not  let  go  one  single 
idea,  not  one  principle,  not  one  truth.  She  has  an  honest 
lineage;  she  is,  under  God's  providence,  the  lawful  off 
spring  of  advancing  humanity,  and  she  claims  as  her 
rightful  inheritance  the  glorious  inventions,  the  rich  dis 
coveries  of  the  past.  But  democracy  does  not,  like  the 
Egyptians,  embalm  the  dead  ;  she  does  not  bear  along 
with  her  decayed  institutions,  errors  that  have  inflicted 
on  themselves  their  own  death-blow.  She  leaves  the  self- 
styled  conservative  to  stagger  along  under  the  accumula 
ted  superstitions  and  wasting  structures  of  past  centu 
ries,  to  totter  under  the  piles  of  charters  that  have  ex 
pired,  of  contracts  that  have  been  broken ;  and  she  her 
self  keeps  on  in  her  course,  having  for  her  companions 
all  the  noble  institutions  which  rest,  self-sustained,  in 
their  own  integrity ;  and  for  the  guaranty  of  her  success, 
the  natural  immortality  of  truth,  and  the  ever-active  pro 
vidence  of  God. 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  281 

I  know  that  this  faith  in  man's  advancement  is,  by 
many,  esteemed  visionary :  I  know  that  many  of  our  op 
ponents  assert  that  the  immense  difference  between  the 
favored  classes  and  the  toilsome  children  of  labor  is  the 
order  of  providence ;  that  the  history  of  the  future,  like 
the  history  of  the  past,  must  show  the  largest  number  in 
a  state  of  ignorance  and  suffering,  and  all  the  benefits  of 
civilization  the  exclusive  enjoyment  of  the  few.  The 
argument,  as  far  as  it  regards  society,  is  refuted  by  facts. 
Each  year  has  given  to  humanity  new  trophies,  in  its  ef 
fort  to  diffuse  the  benefits  of  freedom. 

But  the  faith  in  advancement  admits  of  a  nobler  justi 
fication.  It  rests  on  the  highest  elements  of  morality ;  is 
blended  with  all  that  is  noble  in  human  nature  ;  and,  far 
from  being  the  faith  of  fanatics  and  visionaries,  we  avow, 
as  a  part  of  our  democratic  creed,  that  this  faith  is  essen 
tial  to  the  character  of  a  good  practical  statesman  ;  that 
every  truly  great  legislator  is  not  limited  in  the  action  of 
his  mind  to  experience,  to  examples,  to  decided  cases, 
but  acknowledges  that  there  is  an  ideal  which  states  and 
nations  should  strive  to  realize. 

To  any  one  who  admits  the  distinctions  of  morals,  this 
proposition  is  capable  of  demonstration.  Politics,  right 
ly  considered,  are  morals  applied  to  public  affairs;  for 
the  providence  of  God  is  supreme  every  where ;  He  is 
the  God  of  nations,  as  well  as  the  God  of  man.  Now, 
then,  go  into  private  life.  YOUNG  MEN,  you  who  are 
striving  to  build  up  for  yourselves  a  pure  fame,  will  you 
seek  in  those  around  you  for  the  high  ideal  of  moral 
worth?  Shall  the  example  of  men  around  you,  swayed 
to  and  fro  by  the  passions  of  the  moment,  soured  by  dis 
appointment,  kindling  with  excitement,  debased  by  de 
sires,  ever  the  dupes  of  their  own  selfishness  ;  shall  the 
VOL.  ii.  24* 


282  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

example  of  beings,  as  imperfect  as  each  individual  of  our 
race,  constitute  the  rule  of  conduct?  If  it  were  so, 
there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  striving  after  virtue ;  for 
no  man  is  in  himself  a  personification  of  virtue;  no  man 
has  realized  perfection.  To  establish,  then,  a  rule  of 
morality,  deduced  from  the  practice  of  individuals,  has, 
for  its  necessary  result,  the  abandonment  of  highest  ex 
cellence,  and  substituting  for  it  imperfect  experience. 
Such  a  system  would  destroy  all  morality  ;  would  substi 
tute  human  imperfection  for  the  divine  law,  the  actual 
passions  of  mortals  for  the  bright  though  unrealized 
image  of  the  divine  man,  which  God  has  implanted  in 
the  heart. 

The  same  is  true  of  politics.  Follow  experience,  you 
may  renew  monarchy,  feudalism,  the  dominion  of  a 
selfish  stock  aristocracy.  You  necessarily  vitiate  legis 
lation,  by  proposing  in  the  outset  to  shape  it  after  imper 
fect  models.  It  is  necessary  for  the  statesman  to  have  in 
his  mind  the  conception  of  a  perfect  legislation  ;  that  he 
may  thus,  by  the  comparison,  be  constantly  led  to  disco 
ver  existing  defects,  and  to  move,  if  slowly  yet  certainly, 
in  the  paths  of  improvement. 

The  immediate  tendency  of  democratic  legislation  is 
towards  a  true  and  full  declaration  of  national  indepen 
dence, — a  perfect  relief  from  the  last  remaining  bonds 
of  the  old  colonial  system,  which  was  but  a  branch  of  the 
false  mercantile  system.  That  system  founded  commerce 
not  on  reciprocity,  but  on  privileges  secured  by  treaty, 
or  enforced  by  oppression ;  making  commerce,  which 
should  be  a  pledge  of  peace,  the  fruitful  parent  of  wars. 
This  system  was  dominant  in  European  politics  for  a 
century.  Our  Declaration  of  Independence  was  its 
death  warrant ;  and  though  it  still  lingered  into  the  lap 


ADDRESS    TO    YOUNG    MEN.  283 

of  a  better  century,  it  never  could  effect  a  reversal  of 
its  doom.  When  these  United  States  began  their  exist 
ence  as  a  nation,  the  traces  of  the  false  mercantile  sys 
tem  were  branded  deeply  into  the  code  of  every  Euro 
pean  maritime  power.  The  principle  involved  in  our 
very  existence  as  a  nation,  was  perpetually  coming  in 
conflict  with  the  many  European  abuses  which  protruded 
themselves  into  our  path,  and  attempted  to  block  up  our 
progress.  For  the  nations  of  Europe  to  recognize  a 
colony  as  an  equal ;  for  the  monarchs  and  aristocracies 
of  Europe  to  admit  a  democratic  republic  to  equal  influ 
ence  in  the  interpretation  of  international  law,  implied 
changes  in  the  European  world  as  vast  as  those  which 
were  effected  by  our  independence  itself.  England  has 
not  yet  learned  to  respect  our  republic  as  her  equal. 
The  same  spirit  which,  in  the  days  of  Washington,  dic 
tated  its  refusal  to  surrender  the  north-western  posts,  in 
spires  her  councils  now  in  her  arrogant  usurpations. 
Aristocratic  England  has  not  yet  learned  a  due  respect 
for  the  plebeian  republic,  which  is  spreading  her  language 
from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other.  On  ques 
tions  of  international  law,  democracy,  asserting  equality, 
and  submitting,  self-restrained,  to  the  limitations  of  jus 
tice,  tends  towards  establishing  freedom  of  goods  for  free 
ships,  and  guarding  a  vessel  on  the  high  seas  as  a  floating 
colony. 

Our  opponents  extol  the  benefits  of  a  mixed  currency, 
and  yet  they  resist  all  efforts  to  make  even  the  least  ad 
vance  towards  a  mixed  currency.  Specie  has  been  ban 
ished  almost  entirely,  except  for  purposes  of  making 
change.  In  consequence,  while  a  high  tariff,  by  its  very 
nature,  excluded  the  American  manufactures  from  the 
foreign  market,  each  protective  tariff  was  in  succession, 


264  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

rendered  nugatory  at  home;  for  as  the  tariff  was  ad 
vanced,  the  currency  expanded,  till  in  the  fever  of  specu 
lation  and  extravagant  prices,  the  cost  of  production  rose 
to  such  a  degree,  that  the  foreigner  could  pay  the  high 
duties,  and  yet  compete  with  the  American  manufacturer 
in  the  American  market. 

Wide  suspensions  of  specie  payments  have  occurred 
twice  already ;  and  these  again  operate  ruinously  on  the 
manufacturer.  If,  in  the  time  of  suspension,  he  borrows, 
he  must  give  his  notes  at  par,  and  receive  a  depreciated 
currency. 

But  this  is  not  all  :  this  same  unnatural  mercantile 
system  has  been  followed  by  immense  public  debts,  and 
for  these  state  scrip  was  negotiated  abroad.  But  in  fact 
the  money  was  raised  here  at  home  ;  England  sent  nothing 
in  exchange  for  our  hundreds  of  millions  of  stocks  but 
more  bales  of  broadcloths,  larger  importations  from  the 
workshops  of  Birmingham  and  Manchester.  So  true  is 
this,  that  one  of  the  agents  for  the  sale  of  state  stocks 
appealed  to  British  capitalists  in  behalf  of  British  manu 
facturers  to  participate  in  the  loans.  " The  capital  bor 
rowed  by  the  United  States" — I  quote  the  words  of  the 
agent — "  is  transferred  by  bills  from  the  banker  to  the 
merchant,  and  is  taken  to  America,  not  in  bullion,  BUT 
IN  BRITISH  GOODS  ;  every  investment  made,  while  it  adds 
to  the  income  of  the  capitalists,  siuells  the  projits  of  the 
British  manufacturer"  Here  is  the  cause  of  most  of 
the  distress.  But  for  these  disastrous  loans,  and  the  con 
sequent  flood  of  foreign  manufacturers  inundating  the 
country,  the  workshop  of  many  a  manufactory,  which  is 
now  inactive  from  the  impoverishment  of  its  owner, 
would  have  still  been  the  happy  scene  of  contented,  pros 
perous  industry. 


ADDRESS   TO   YOUNG   MEN.  285 

But  when  I  hear  men  assert  that  the  interests  of  labor 
are  bound  up  inseparably  with  the  unstable  character  of 
our  currency,  my  heart  bleeds  within  me  at  the  thought 
of  the  monstrous  deception  which  is  attempted. 

Their  arguments  need  only  to  be  stated,  in  order  to 
expose  their  fallacy;  let  the  harmlessness  of  such  false 
appeals  teach  our  opponents  respect  for  the  intelligence 
of  the  people. 

Our  currency  is  alternately  contracting  as  well  as  ex 
panding.  By  drawing  nearer  to  the  true  specie  standard, 
depression  is  guarded  against,  even  more  than  its  oppo 
site;  and  steady  prices,  a  sure  market  for  manufactures, 
and  a  uniform  demand  for  labor,  would  be  the  conse 
quence.  The  pendulum  swings  too  far  each  way ;  the 
tendency  of  democracy  is  to  repress  the  extravagances 
from  which  speculators  alone  reap  benefits,  and  to  guard 
against  the  depressions  which  at  last  spread  through  the 
land,  dismissing  the  laborer  from  his  employment,  di 
minishing  the  prices  of  produce,  and  carrying  grief  into 
the  families  of  the  independent  manufacturers,  whose 
hearths,  but  for  our  unstable  currency,  would  have  been 
gladdened  by  an  honest  competence. 

And  now  I  turn  on  the  men  who  make  a  pretence  of 
contending  for  the  laboring  classes,  when,  in  fact,  they 
are  pleading  the  cause  of  large  corporations;  and  I  say, 
the  tendency  of  democracy  is  toward  the  elevation  of  the 
industrious  classes,  the  increase  of  their  comfort,  the 
assertion  of  their  dignity,  the  establishment  of  their 
power.  This  cannot  be  done  by  any  system  of  artificial 
legislation  ;  for  of  that  the  great  corporations  will  always 
appropriate  the  benefits.  The  large  corporations,  it  is 
true,  are  forever  calling  in  the  laboring  classes  to  advo 
cate  their  demands  for  monopoly ;  Tom  Thumb  fights 


$86  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  battle,  but  the  giant  takes  the  spoils.  The  laboring 
classes  can  be  elevated  only  by  a  system  of  equal  laws. 
But  I  go  farther  :  nothing  so  much  retards  their  progress 
as  the  vices  of  our  currency,  which  expands  when  rising 
prices  require  a  check  to  enterprise,  and  contracts  when 
falling  prices  make  credit  most  desirable ;  which,  at  one 
time,  excites  fallacious  hopes,  by  creating  a  sudden  and 
unnatural  demand  for  laborers,  and,  at  another,  sacrifices 
their  happiness  and  abruptly  turns  them  off  by  double 
scores. 

My  bosom  swells  with  indignation,  when  I  find  men 
commending  to  the  affections  of  the  laboring  class  the 
very  evils  in  our  currency  which  inflict  on  them  the  most 
vital  injury.  Against  their  sophistry  there  is  a  living 
and  an  eloquent  witness  in  the  breast  of  each  one  of  the 
myriads  of  the  producing  classes.  I  call  on  the  laborer 
himself  to  pause  and  reflect ;  and  his  own  mind  will 
whisper  to  him  full  replies  to  the  artful  appeals  of  aspir 
ing  statesmen,  who,  pretending  to  advance  his  interests, 
are,  in  reality,  the  advocates  of  the  maxims  of  aristo 
cracy. 

Again,  democracy  tends  to  order  and  security  of  pro 
perty  ;  for,  by  reconciling  legislation  with  justice,  it 
invokes  always  the  energy  of  conscience,  and  gives  to 
public  law  not  the  force  only  of  an  arm  of  flesh,  but 
that  infinitely  higher  power,  the  force  of  moral  opinion. 

It  tends  to  equality  ;  for,  by  founding  government  on 
reason,  it  is  pledged  to  recognize  the  equal  claims  of  all 
who  are  endowed  with  reason. 

It  tends  to  promote  education ;  seeking  to  make  a 
common  stock  of  the  stores  of  intelligence,  the  fruits  of 
mind,  which,  far  from  being  diminished  by  being  shared, 
are  increased  the  more  rapidly,  the  more  widely  they  are 
diffused. 


VIRGINIA    AND    KENTUCKY    RESOLUTIONS.  287 

Once  more  :  the  tendency  of  democratic  truth  is,  to 
inspire  not  only  a  confidence  in  itself,  but  a  confidence 
in  its  success.  We  believe  in  democratic  truth,  and  we 
believe  also  in  the  overruling  providence  of  God.  The 
ultimate  prevalence  of  the  right  is-  therefore  certain  ;  for 
while  every  error  is  essentially  mortal,  and  every  wrong, 
of  necessity,  in  the  end  avenges  itself,  justice  partakes 
of  the  Divine  immortality,  and  is  destined  always  to  out 
live  and  to  rise  above  its  adversaries. 


THE    VIRGINIA  AND    KENTUCKY   RESO 
LUTIONS  OF  1798. 

THE  measures  of  the  party  now  in  power  has  thus  far 
been,  and,  from  the  known  character  and  avowed  designs 
of  their  leaders,  will  probably  continue  to  be,  only  a 
revival,  in  their  worst  and  most  obnoxious  forms,  of  the 
wild,  visionary  and  aristocratic  schemes  of  the  old  fede 
ral  party — measures  calculated  to  build  up  and  sustain 
certain  classes  of  the  community  at  the  expense  of  all 
others,  and  give  to  the  moneyed  aristocracy  a  command 
ing  influence  over  the  legislation  of  this  country.  Be 
lieving  the  celebrated  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolu 
tions  of  1798  to  be  the  best  standard  by  which  the  people 
can  try  the  merit  or  demerit  of  those  measures,  the  Edi 
tor  has  deemed  it  proper  to  insert  them  in  the  present 
volume  of  the  True  American,  and  he  exhorts  every  citi 
zen  of  this  yet  free  republic  to  "  read  them  again  and 
again,  to  study  them  carefully,  and  inwardly  digest  them." 
He  can  add  nothing  more  excellent  by  way  of  further  in- 


288  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

troduction,  than  to  copy  the  following  preface,  prefixed 
to  a  pamphlet  copy  of  these  resolutions  in  February, 
1826,  by  that  veteran  democrat  and  excellent  man,  the 
venerable  editor  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer,  THOMAS 
RITCHIE. 

"  The  administration  of  Mr.  John  Adams  was  a  dark 
day  for  the  republic.  Then,  Alien  and  Sedition  acts 
were  let  loose  upon  us ;  the  purity  of  the  constitution  it 
self  was  violated  by  the  madness  of  party ;  and  those 
rights  which  had  been  respectively  reserved  to  the  states 
and  to  the  people,  were  exposed  to  the  most  fearful  jeo 
pardy  by  the  usurpations  of  the  federal  government. 

"  But  the  friends  of  the  constitution  did  not  '  despair 
of  the  republic.'  Though  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of 
the  press  was  invaded ;  though  the  power  arid  patronage 
of  the  government  were  exerted  to  intimidate  or  seduce 
the  people,  the  republicans  did  not  abandon  the  cause  of 
their  country.  Their  resistance  continued  with  the  cri 
sis ;  the  form  of  it  only  was  varied.  While  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  remained  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and 
Mr.  Gallatin  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  most  of 
their  most  able  and  active  friends,  in  some  of  the  states, 
retired  from  the  walks  of  the  general  government,  and 
retreated  to  the  state  legislatures;  in  which  great  citadels 
of  the  public  liberty  they  proposed  to  re-assert  the  true 
principles  of  the  government.  The  republicans  suc 
ceeded,  and  the  constitution  was  saved. 

"  Among  the  most  memorable  productions  of  those 
times  were  the  Resolutions  and  Reports  which  were 
adopted  by  the  legislatures  of  Kentucky  and  Virginia. 
These  were  penned  by  Jefferson  and  Madison.  To  Mr. 
Madison  is  clue  the  honor  of  having  drafted  the  Virginia 
Resolutions  of  the  -21st  December,  1798,  and  that  mas 
terly  vindication  of  them,  which  was  adopted  by  the  legis 
lature  of  Virginia  during  the  session  of  1799-1800;  a 
paper  which  is  familiarly  known  by  the  name  of  '  Madi 
son's  Report,'  and  which  deserves  to  last  as  long  as  the 
constitution  itself. 

"  The   Resolutions  of  Kentucky   were   submitted   to 


THB    VIRGINIA    RESOLUTIONS.  289 

the  legislature  of  that  state  by  Mr.  John  Breckenridge, 
and  adopted  by  them  on  the  10th  of  November,  1799. 
They  had  the  honor  of  being  penned  by  the  author  of 
the  Declaration  of  American  Independence. 

"  Both  these  esteemed  productions  are  scarce,  and  out 
of  print.  They  are  frequently  asked  for.  They  are 
again  wanting  to  re-establish  the  landmarks  of  the  con 
stitution,  and  to  stay  that  flood  of  encroachment  which 
threatens  to  sweep  our  country.  The  rights  of  the  states 
and  of  the  people  are  again  assailed  in  an  alarming  man 
ner.  Doctrines  are  preached  in  high  places,  which  are 
directly  at  war  with  the  principles  of  our  government. 
The  centripetal  power  is  assuming  a  new  and  fearful  en 
ergy.  Under  the  authority  of  great  names,  great  errors 
are  maintained.  Is  it  not  time,  then,  for  the  friends  of 
truth  to  rally  together,  and  to  re-assert  her  principles  ? 
Where  can  we  find  these  principles  more  clearly  stated,  or 
the  arguments  in  their  defence  more  powerfully  develo 
ped,  than  in  the  celebrated  productions  which  the  pub 
lisher  of  this  pamphlet  now  lays  before  his  readers  ?" 


VIRGINIA   RESOLUTIONS 

OP  1798,  PRONOUNCING  THE  ALIEN  AND  SEDITION  LAWS 
TO  BE  UNCONSTITUTIONAL,  AND  DEFINING  THE  RIGHTS 
OF  THE  STATES.  DRAWN  BY  MR.  MADISON,  AND  PRE 
SENTED  AND  ENFORCED  BY  JOHN  TAYLOR  OF  CAROLINE. 

In  the  Virginia  House  of  Delegates,  ) 
Friday,  Dec.  21,  1798.          ] 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  doth 
unequivocally  express  a  firm  resolution  to  maintain  and 
defend  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
constitution  of  this  state,  against  every  aggression,  either 
foreign  or  domestic ;  and  that  they  will  support  the  go 
vernment  of  the  United  States  in  all  measures  warranted 
by  the  former. 

That  this   assembly  most  solemnly   declares  a  warm 

attachment  to  the  union  of  the  states,  to  maintain  which 

it  pledges  its  powers ;  and,   that  for  this  end,  it  is  their 

duty  to  watch  over  and  oppose  every  infraction  of  those 

VOL.  n.  25 


290  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN; 

principles  which  constitute  the  only  basis  of  that  Union/ 
because  a  faithful  observance  of  them  can  alone  secure 
its  existence  and  the  public  happiness. 

That  this  assembly  doth  explicitly  and  peremptorily 
declare,  that  it  views  the  powers  of  the  federal  govern 
ment,  as  resulting  from  the  compact  to  which  the  states 
are  parties,  as  limited  by  the  plain  sense  and  intention  of 
the  instrument  constituting  that  compact,  as  no  further 
valid  than  they  are  authorized  by  the  grants  enumerated 
in  that  compact ;  and  that  in  case  of  a  deliberate,  palpa 
ble,  and  dangerous  exercise  of  other  powers,  not  granted 
by  the  said  compact,  the  states,  who  are  parties  thereto, 
have  the  right,  and  are  in  duty  bound,  to  interpose,  for 
arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil,  and  for  maintaining 
within  their  respective  limits,  the  authorities,  rights,  and 
liberties  appertaining  to  them. 

That  the  General  Assembly  doth  also  express  its  deep 
regret,  that  a  spirit  has,  in  sundry  instances,  been  mani 
fested  by  the  federal  government  to  enlarge  its  powers 
by  forced  constructions  of  the  constitutional  charter 
which  defines  them ;  and  that  indications  have  appeared 
of  a  design  to  expound  certain  general  phrases  (which, 
having  been  copied  from  the  very  limited  grant  of  pow 
ers  in  the  former  articles  of  confederation  were  the  less 
liable  to  be  misconstrued)  so  as  to  destroy  the  meaning 
and  effect  of  the  particular  enumeration  which  necessa 
rily  explains  and  limits  the  general  phrases,  and  so  as  to 
consolidate  the  states  by  degrees,  into  one  sovereignty, 
the  obvious  tendency  and  inevitable  result  of  which  would 
be,  to  transform  the  present  republican  system  of  the 
United  States  into  an  absolute,  or,  at  best,  a  mixed  mo 
narchy. 

That  the  General  Assembly  doth  particularly  protest 
against  the  palpable  and  alarming  infractions  of  the  con 
stitution,  in  the  two  late  cases  of  the  "  Alien  and  Sedition 
Acts,"  passed  at  the  late  session  of  Congress,  the  first 
of  which  exercises  a  power  no  where  delegated  to  the 
federal  government,  and  which,  by  uniting  legislative  and 
judicial  powers  to  those  of  executive,  subverts  the  general 
principles  of  free  government,  as  well  as  the  particular 
organization  and  positive  provisions  of  the  federal  con- 


THE    VIRGINIA    RESOLUTIONS.  291 

stitution ;  and  the  other  of  which  acts  exercises,  in  like 
manner,  a  power  not  delegated  by  the  constitution,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  expressly  and  positively  forbidden  by 
one  of  the  amendments  thereto ;  a  power  which,  more 
than  any  other,  ought  to  produce  universal  alarm,  because 
it  is  leveled  against  the  right  of  freely  examining  public 
characters  and  measures,  and  of  free  communication 
among  the  people  thereon,  which  has  ever  been  justly 
deemed  the  only  effectual  guardian  of  every  other  right. 

That  this  state  having,  by  its  convention  which  ratified 
the  federal  constitution,  expressly  declared,  that  among 
other  essential  rights,  "  the  liberty  of  conscience  and  the 
press  cannot  be  cancelled,  abridged,  restrained,  or  modi 
fied  by  any  authority  of  the  United  States,"  and  from  its 
extreme  anxiety  to  guard  these  rights  from  every  possible 
attack  of  sophistry  and  ambition,  having  with  other  states 
recommended  an  amendment  for  that  purpose,  which 
amendment  was,  in  due  time,  annexed  to  the  constitution, 
it  would  mark  a  reproachful  inconsistency  and  criminal 
degeneracy,  if  an  indifference  were  now  shown  to  the 
most  palpable  violation  of  one  of  the  rights  thus  declared 
and  secured  ;  and  to  the  establishment  of  a  precedent 
which  may  be  fatal  to  the  other. 

That  the  good  people  of  this  commonwealth,  having 
ever  felt,  and  continuing  to  feel  the  most  sincere  affection 
for  their  brethren  of  the  other  states  ;  the  truest  anxiety 
for  establishing  and  perpetuating  the  union  of  all;  and 
the  most  scrupulous  fidelity  to  that  constitution,  which  is 
the  pledge  of  mutual  friendship,  and  the  instrument  of 
mutual  happiness  ;  the  General  Assembly  doth  solemnly 
appeal  to  the  like  dispositions  in  the  other  states,  in  con 
fidence  that  they  will  concur  with  this  commonwealth  in 
declaring,  as  it  does  hereby  declare,  that  the  acts  afore 
said  are  unconstitutional ; — and  that  the  necessary  and 
proper  measures  will  be  taken  by  each  for  co-operating 
with  this  state,  in  maintaining  unimpaired  the  authori 
ties,  rights,  and  liberties,  reserved  to  the  states  respect 
ively,  or  to  the  people. 

That  the  governor  be  desired  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the 
foregoing  resolutions  to  the  executive  authority  of  each  of 
the  other  states,  with  a  request  that  the  same  may  be  com- 


292  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

municated  to  the  legislature  thereof;  and  that  a  copy  be 
furnished  to  each  of  the  senators  and  representatives  re 
presenting  this  state  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
December  24,  1798.— Agreed  to  by  the  Senate. 

Extracts  from  the  Address  to  the  People  which  accompa 
nied  the  foregoing  Resolutions. 

Fellow-citizens  : — Unwilling  to  shrink  from  our  re 
presentative  responsibilities,  conscious  of  the  purity  of 
our  motives,  but  acknowledging  your  right  to  supervise 
our  conduct,  we  invite  your  serious  attention  to  the  emer 
gency  which  dictated  the  subjoined  resolutions.  Whilst 
we  disdain  to  alarm  you  by  ill-founded  jealousies,  we  re 
commend  an  investigation  guided  by  the  coolness  of  wis 
dom,  and  a  decision  bottomed  on  firmness,  but  tempered 
with  moderation. 

It  would  be  perfidious  in  those  intrusted  with  the 
GUARDIANSHIP  OF  THE  STATE  SOVEREIGN 
TY,  and  acting  under  the  solemn  obligation  of  the  fol 
lowing  oath — "  I  do  swear  that  I  will  support  the  consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,"  not  to  warn  you  of  encroach 
ments  which,  though  clothed  with  the  pretext  of  necessi 
ty,  or  disguised  by  arguments  of  expediency,  may  yet 
establish  precedents,  which  may  ultimately  devote  a  gene 
rous  and  unsuspicious  people  to  all  the  consequences  of 
usurped  power. 

Encroachments  springing  from  a  government  whose 
ORGANIZATION  CANNOT  BE  MAINTAINED 
WITHOUT  THE  CO-OPERATION  OF  THE 
STATES,  furnish  the  strongest  excitements  upon  the 
state  legislatures  to  watchfulness,  and  impose  upon  them 
the  strongest  obligation  TO  PRESERVE  UNIM 
PAIRED  THE  LINE  OF  PARTITION. 

The  acquiescence  of  the  states  under  infractions  of  the 
federal  compact,  would  either  beget  a  speedy  consolida 
tion,  by  precipitating  the  state  governments  into  impo- 
tency  and  contempt,  or  prepare  the  way  for  a  revolution, 
by  a  repetition  of  these  infractions,  until  the  people  are 
aroused  to  appear  in  the  majesty  of  their  strength.  It  is 
to  avoid  these  calamities  that  we  exhibit  to  the  people  the 
momentous  question,  whether  the  constitution  of  the  Uni- 


THE    VIRGINIA    RESOLUTIONS. 

ted  States  shall  yield  to  a  construction  which  defies  every 
restraint,  and  overwhelms  the  best  hopes  of  republicanism. 

Exhortations  to  disregard  domestic  usurpation,  until 
foreign  danger  shall  have  passed,  is  an  artifice  which  may 
be  forever  used ;  because  the  possessors  of  power,  who 
are  the  advocates  for  its  extension,  can  ever  create  na 
tional  embarrassments,  to  be  successively  employed  to 
soothe  the  people  into  sleep,  whilst  that  power  is  swell 
ing  silently,  secretly,  and  fatally.  Of  the  same  charac 
ter  are  insinuations  of  a  foreign  influence,  which  seize 
upon  a  laudable  enthusiasm  against  danger  from  abroad, 
and  distort  it  by  an  unnatural  application,  so  as  to  blind 
your  eyes  against  danger  at  home. 

The  Sedition  act  presents  a  scene  which  was  never 
expected  by  the  early  friends  of  the  constitution.  It  was 
then  admitted  that  the  state  sovereignties  were  only  di 
minished  by  powers  specifically  enumerated,  or  necessary 
to  carry  the  specified  powers  into  effect.  Now  federal 
authority  is  deduced  from  implication,  and  from  the  ex 
istence  of  state  law,  it  is  inferred  that  Congress  possesses 
a  similar  power  of  legislation;  whence  Congress  will  be 
endowed  with  a  power  of  legislation,  in  all  cases  whatso 
ever,  and  the  states  will  be  stripped  of  every  right  re 
served,  by  concurrent  claims  of  a  paramount  legislature. 

The  Sedition  act  is  the  offspring  of  these  tremendous 
pretensions,  which  inflict  a  death-wound  on  the  sovereign 
ty  of  the  states. 

For  the  honor  of  American  understanding,  we  will  not 
believe  that  the  people  have  been  allured  into  the  adop 
tion  of  the  constitution,  by  an  affectation  of  defining 
powers,  whilst  the  preamble  would  admit  a  construction, 
which  would  erect  the  will  of  Congress  into  a  power 
paramount  in  all  cases,  and  therefore  limited  in  none. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  evident  that  the  objects  for  which 
the  constitution  was  formed  were  deemed  attainable  only 
by  a  particular  enumeration  and  specification  of  each 
power  granted  to  the  federal  government ;  reserving  all 
others  to  the  people,  or  to  the  states.  And  yet  it  is  in 
vain  we  search  for  any  specified  power,  embracing  the 
right  of  legislation  against  the  freedom  of  the  press. 

Had  the  states  been  despoiled  of  their  sovereignty  by 
VOL.  ii.  25* 


294  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  generality  of  the  preamble,  and  had  the  federal  go 
vernment  been  endowed  with  whatever  they  should  judge 
to  be  instrumental  towards  the  union,  justice,  tranquillity, 
common  defence,  general  welfare,  and  the  preservation 
of  liberty,  nothing  could  have  been  more  frivolous  than 
an  enumeration  of  powers. 

All  the  preceding  arguments  arising  from  a  deficiency 
of  constitutional  power  in  Congress,  apply  to  the  Alien 
act,  and  this  act  is  liable  to  other  objections  peculiar  to 
itself.  If  a  suspicion  that  aliens  are  dangerous,  consti 
tute  the  justification  of  that  power  exercised  over  them 
by  Congress,  then  a  similar  suspicion  will  justify  the  ex 
ercise  of  a  similar  power  over  natives.  Because  there  is 
nothing  in  the  constitution  distinguishing  between  the 
power  of  a  state  to  permit  the  residence  of  natives  and 
aliens.  It  is,  therefore,  a  right  originally  possessed,  and 
never  surrendered  by  the  respective  states,  and  which  is 
rendered  dear  and  valuable  to  Virginia,  because  it  is  as 
sailed  through  the  bosom  of  the  constitution,  and  because 
her  peculiar  situation  renders  the  easy  admission  of  arti 
sans  and  laborers  an  interest  of  vast  importance. 

But  this  bill  contains  other  features,  still  more  alarming 
and  dangerous.  It  dispenses  with  the  trial  by  jury  ;  it 
violates  the  judicial  system  ;  it  confounds  legislative,  ex 
ecutive,  and  judicial  powers  ;  it  punishes  without  trial  ; 
and  it  bestows  upon  the  President  despotic  power  over  a 
numerous  class  of  men.  Are  such  measures  consistent 
with  our  constitutional  principles?  And  will  an  accu 
mulation  of  power  so  extensive,  in  the  hands  of  the  ex 
ecutive,  over  aliens,  secure  to  natives  the  blessings  of 
republican  liberty  ? 

If  measures  can  mould  governments,  and  if  an  uncon 
trolled  power  of  construction  is  surrendered  to  those 
who  administer  them,  their  progress  may  be  easily  fore 
seen  and  their  end  easily  foretold.  A  lover  of  monar 
chy,  who  opens  the  treasures  of  corruption,  by  distribu 
ting  emolument  among  devoted  partisans,  may,  at  the 
same  time,  be  approaching  his  object,  and  deluding  the 
people  with  professions  of  republicanism.  He  may  con 
found  monarchy  and  republicanism  by  the  art  of  defini 
tion.  He  may  varnish  over  the  dexterity  which  ambition 


THE   VIRGINIA   RESOLUTIONS.  295 

never  fails  to  display,  with  the  pliancy  of  language,  the 
seduction  of  expediency,  or  the  prejudices  of  the  times. 
And  he  may  come  at  length  to  avow,  that  so  extensive  a 
territory  as  that  of  the  United  States  can  only  be  govern 
ed  by  the  energies  of  monarchy ;  that  it  cannot  be  de 
fended,  except  by  standing  armies;  and  that  it  cannot 
be  united,  except  by  consolidation. 

Measures  have  already  been  adopted,  which  may  lead 
to  these  consequences.  They  consist 

In  fiscal  systems  and  arrangements,  which  keep  a  host 
of  commercial  and  wealthy  individuals,  embodied  and 
obedient  to  the  mandates  of  the  treasury ; 

In  armies  and  navies,  which  will,  on  the  one  hand,  en 
list  the  tendency  of  man  to  pay  homage  to  his  fellow- 
creature  who  can  feed  or  honor  him ;  and  on  the  other, 
employ  the  principle  of  fear,  by  punishing  imaginary  in 
surrections,  under  the  pretext  of  preventive  justice; 

In  swarms  of  officers,  civil  and  military,  who  can  in 
culcate  political  tenets  tending  to  consolidation  and 
monarchy,  both  by  indulgences  and  severities,  and  can 
act  as  spies  over  the  free  exercise  of  human  reason ; 

In  restraining  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  investing 
the  executive  with  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial 
powers,  over  a  numerous  body  of  men. 

And  that  we  may  shorten  the  catalogue,  in  establishing 
by  successive  precedents  such  a  mode  of  construing  the 
constitution,  as  will  rapidly  remove  every  restraint  upon 
federal  power. 

Let  history  be  consulted ;  let  the  man  of  experience 
reflect;  nay,  let  the  artificers  of  monarchy  be  asked, 
what  further  materials  they  can  need  for  building  up  their 
favorite  system. 

These  are  solemn,  but  painful  truths ;  and  yet  we  re 
commend  it  to  you,  not  to  forget  the  possibility  of  danger 
from  without,  although  danger  threatens  us  from  within. 
Usurpation  is  indeed  dreadful ;  but  against  foreign  inva 
sion,  if  that  should  happen,  let  us  rise  with  hearts  and 
hands  united,  and  repel  the  attack  with  the  zeal  of  free 
men,  who  will  strengthen  their  title  to  examine  and  cor 
rect  domestic  measures,  by  having  defended  their  country 
against  foreign  aggression. 


296  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Pledged  as  we  are,  fellow-citizens,  to  these  sacred  en 
gagements,  we  yet  humbly,  fervently  implore  the  Almigh 
ty  Disposer  of  events  to  avert  from  our  land  war  and 
usurpation,  the  scourges  of  mankind,  to  permit  our  fields 
to  be  cultivated  in  peace ;  to  instil  into  nations  the  love 
of  friendly  intercourse  ;  to  suffer  our  youth  to  be  educa 
ted  in  virtue;  and  to  preserve  our  morality  from  the  pol 
lution  invariably  incident  to  habits  of  war ;  to  prevent 
the  laborer  and  husbandman  from  being  harassed  by 
taxes  an.d  imposts ;  to  remove  from  ambition  the  means  of 
disturbing  the  commonwealth;  to  annihilate  all  pretexts 
for  power  afforded  by  war;  to  maintain  the  constitution  ; 
and  to  bless  our  nation  with  tranquillity,  under  whose 
benign  influence  we  may  reach  the  summit  of  happiness 
and  glory,  to  which  we  are  destined  by  nature  and  no- 
ture's  God. 

KENTUCKY    RESOLUTIONS. 

In  the  Hottse  of  Representatives,  Nov.  10, 1798. 

The  House,  according  to  the  standing  order  of  the  day, 
resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  state 
of  the  commonwealth,  Mr.  Caldwell  in  the  chair. 

And  after  some  time  spent  therein,  the  Speaker  resu 
med  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Caldwell  reported  that  the  com 
mittee  had,  according  to  order,  had  under  consideration 
the  governor's  address,  and  had  come  to  the  following 
resolutions  thereupon,  which  he  delivered  in  at  the  clerk's 
table,  where  they  were  twice  read  and  agreed  to  by  the 
House. 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  several  states  composing  the 
United  States  of  America,  are  not  united  on  the  principle 
of  unlimited  submission  to  their  general  government,  but 
that  by  compact  under  the  style  and  title  of  a  constitution 
for  the  United  States,  and  of  amendments  thereto,  they 
constituted  a  general  government  for  special  purposes, 
delegated  to  that  government  certain  definite  powers, 
reserving  each  state  to  itself,  the  residuary  mass  of  right 
to  their  own  self-government;  and  that  whensoever  the 
general  government  assumes  undelegated  powers,  its  acts 
ure  unauthoritative,  void,  and  of  no  force  :  That  to  thi* 


THE   KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS.  297 

compact  each  state  acceded  as  a  state,  and  is  an  integral 
party,  its  co-states  forming,  as  to  itself,  the  other  party  : 
That  the  government  created  by  this  compact  was  not 
made  the  exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of  the 
powers  delegated  to  itself;  since  that  would  have  made 
its  discretion,  and  not  the  constitution,  the  measure  of 
its  powers ;  but  that  as  in  all  other  cases  of  compact 
among  parties  having  no  common  judge,  each  party  has 
an  equal  right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  infractions  as 
of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
having  delegated  to  Congress  a  power  to  punish  treason, 
counterfeiting   the  securities    and   current  coin   of  the 
United  States,   piracies  and    felonies  committed  on  the 
high  seas,  and  offences  against  the  laws  of  nations,  and 
no  other  crimes  whatever,  and  it  being  true  as  a  general 
principle,  and  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  constitution 
having  also  declared  "  that  the  powers  not  delegated  to 
the  United  States  by  the  constitution,  nor  prohibited  by 
it  to  the  states,  are  reserved  to  the  states  respectively,  or 
to  the  people ;"  therefore  also  the  same  act  of  Congress, 
passed  on  the  14th  day  of  July,  1798,  and  entitled  "An 
act  in  addition  to  the  act  entitled  an  act  for  the  punish 
ment  of  certain  crimes    against  the  United  States;"  as 
also  the  act  passed   by  them  on  the  27th  day  of  June, 
1798,  entitled   "  An  act  to  punish  frauds  committed  on 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,"  (and  all  other  acts  which 
assume  to  create,  define,    or  punish  crimes   other  than 
those   enumerated    in    the    constitution,)   are   altogether 
void  and  of  no  force ;  and  that  the  power  to  create,  de 
fine,  and  punish  such  other  crimes  is  reserved,  and  of  right 
appertains  solely  and  exclusively  to  the  respective  states, 
each  within  its  own  territory. 

3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  true  as  a  general  principle,  and 
is  also  expressly  declared  by  one  of  the   amendments  to 
the  constitution,  that  "  the  powers  not  delegated  to  the 
United  States  by  the  constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to 
the  states,  are  reserved  to  the  states  respectively,  or  to 
the  people  ;"  and  that  no  power  over  the  freedom  of  reli 
gion,  freedom  of  speech,  or  freedom  of  the  press,  being 
delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  constitution,  nor 


29S  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

prohibited  by  it  to  the  states,  all  lawful  powers  respecting 
the  same  did  of  right  remain  and  were  reserved  to  the 
states,  or  to  the  people :  That  thus  was  manifested  their 
determination  to  retain  to  themselves  the  right  of  judging 
how  far  the  licentiousness  of  speech  and  of  the  press 
may  be  abridged  without  lessening  their  useful  freedom, 
and  how  far  those  abuses  which  cannot  be  separated  from 
their  use,  should  be  tolerated  rather  than  the  use  be  de 
stroyed;  and  thus  also,  they  guarded  against  all  abridg 
ment  by  the  United  States  of  the  freedom  of  religious 
opinion  and  exercises,  and  retained  to  themselves  the 
right  of  protecting  the  same,  as  this  state,  by  a  law  passed 
on  the  general  demand  of  its  citizens,  had  already  pro 
tected  them  from  all  human  restraint  or  interference : 
And  that  in  addition  to  this  general  principle  and  express 
declaration,  another  and  more  special  provision  has  been 
made  by  one  of  the  amendments  of  the  constitution, 
which  expressly  declares  that  "  Congress  shall  make  no 
law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibit 
ing  the  free  exercise  thereof,  or  abridging  the  freedom  of 
speech  or  of  the  press,"  thereby  guarding  in  the  same 
sentence,  and  under  the  same  words,  the  freedom  of  reli 
gion,  of  speech,  and  of  the  press,  insomuch  that  what 
ever  violates  either,  throws  down  the  sanctuary  which 
covers  the  others,  and  that  libels,  falsehoods,  and  defama 
tion,  equally  with  heresy  and  false  religion,  are  withheld 
from  the  cognizance  of  federal  tribunals  :  That  therefore 
the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  passed  on 
the  14th  day  of  July,  1798,  entitled  "An  act  in  addition 
to  the  act  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  against 
the  United  States,"  which  does  abridge  the  freedom  of 
the  press,  is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void  and  of  no 
effect. 

4,  Resolved,  That  alien  friends  are  under  the  jurisdic 
tion  and  protection  of  the  laws  of  the  state  wherein  they 
are ;  that  no  power  over  them  has  been  delegated  to  the 
United  States,  nor  prohibited  to  the  individual  states  dis 
tinct  from  their  power  over  citizens ;  and  it  being  true  as 
a  general  principle,  and  one  of  the  amendments  to  the 
constitution  having  also  declared  that  "  the  powers  not 
delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  constitution,  not 


THE    KENTUCKY    RESOLUTIONS.  299 

prohibited  by  it  to  the  states,  are  reserved  to  the  states 
respectively,  or  to  the  people,"  the  act  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  passed  on  the  22d  day  of  June, 
1798,  entitled  "  An  act  concerning  aliens,"  which  assumes 
power  over  alien  friends  not  delegated  by  the  constitu 
tion,  is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void  and  of  no  force. 

5.  Resolved,  That  in  addition  to  the  general  principle, 
as  well  as  the  express  declaration,  that  powers  not  dele 
gated  are  reserved,  another   and   more  special  provision 
inserted   in  the  constitution   from  abundant  caution  has 
declared  that  "  the  migration  or  importation  of  such  per 
sons  as  any  of  the  states  now  existing  shall  think  proper 
to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to 
the  year  1808 :"  that  this  commonwealth  does  admit  the 
migration  of  alien  friends  described  as  the  subject  of  the 
said  act  concerning  aliens;  that  a  provision   against  pro 
hibiting  their  migration   is   a  provision  against  all  acts 
equivalent  thereto,   or  it  would  be  nugatory ;  that  to  re 
move  them  when  migrated,  is  equivalent  to  a  prohibition 
of  their  migration,  and  is  therefore  contrary  to  the  said 
provision  of  the  constitution,  and  void. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  imprisonment  of  a  person  under 
the  protection  of  the  laws  of  this  commonwealth  on  his 
failure  to  obey  the  simple  order  of  the  President  to  depart 
out  of  the  United   States,   as  is  undertaken  by  the  said 
act,  entitled   "An  act  concerning  aliens,"  is  contrary  to 
the  constitution,  one  amendment  to  which  has  provided 
that  "  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  liberty  without  due 
process  of  law,"  and  that  another  having  provided,  "that 
in  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the 
right  to  a  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury,  to  be  informed 
of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,  to  be  confront 
ed  with  the  witnesses  against  him,  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  wit  nesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have 
the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defence,"  the  same   act 
undertaking  to  authorize  the  President  to  remove  a  per 
son  out  of  the  United  States  who  is  under  the  protection 
of  the  law,  on   his  own    suspicion,   without    accusation, 
without  jury,  without  public  trial,  without  confrontation 
of  the  witnesses  against  him,  without  having  witnesses  in 
his  favor,  without  defence,  without  counsel,  is  contrary  to 


30Q  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

these  provisions  also  of  the  constitution,  is  therefore  not 
law,  but  utterly  void  and  of  no  force. 

That  transferring  the  power  of  judging  any  person 
who  is  under  the  protection  of  the  laws,  from  the  courts 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  as  is  undertaken 
by  the  same  act  concerning  aliens,  is  against  the  article 
of  the  constitution  which  provides,  that  "  the  judicial 
power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in  courts,  the 
judges  of  which  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  be 
havior,"  and  that  the  said  act  is  void  for  that  reason  also ; 
and  it  is  further  to  be  noted,  that  this  transfer  of  judiciary 
power  is  to  that  magistrate  of  the  general  government 
who  already  possesses  all  the  executive,  and  a  qualified 
negative  in  all  the  legislative  powers. 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  construction  applied  by  the  gene 
ral  government  (as  is  evinced  by  sundry  of  their  proceed 
ings)  to  those  parts   of  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  which  delegate  to  Congress  a  power  to  lay  and 
collect  taxes,  duties,   imposts,  and  excises ;  to  pay  the 
debts,  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general 
welfare  of  the  United  States,  and  to  make  all  laws  which 
shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution 
the  powers  vested  by  the  constitution  in  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  or  any  department  thereof,  goes  to 
the  destruction  of  all  the  limits  prescribed  to  their  power 
by  the  constitution :  that  words  meant  by  that  instrument 
to  be   subsidiary   only  to  the  execution  of  the  limited 
powers,  ought  not  to  be  so  construed    as  themselves  to 
give  unlimited  powers,  nor   a  part  so  to  be  taken,  as  to 
destroy  the  whole  residue  of  the  instrument;  that   the 
proceedings  of  the  general    government,   under  color  of 
these  articles,  will  be  a  fit  and  necessary  subject  for  revi- 
sal  and  correction  at  a  time  of  greater  tranquillity,  while 
those  specified  in  the  preceding  resolutions  call  for  im 
mediate  redress. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  preceding  resolutions  be  trans 
mitted  to  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress 
from  this  commonwealth,  who    are  hereby  enjoined   to 
present  the  same  to  their  respective  Houses,  and  to  use 
their  best  endeavors  to  procure,  at  the   next  session  of 
Congress,  a  repeal  of  the  aforesaid  unconstitutional  and 
obnoxious  acts. 


THE   KENTUCKY   RESOLUTIONS.  301 

9.  Resolved,  lastly,  That  the  governor  of  this  com 
monwealth  be,  and  is  hereby  authorized  and  requested 
to  communicate  the  preceding  resolutions  to  the  legisla 
tures  of  the  several  states ;  to  assure  them  that  this  com 
monwealth  considers  union  for  specified  national  pur 
poses,  and  particularly  for  those  specified  in  their  late 
federal  compact,  to  be  friendly  to  the  peace,  happiness, 
and  prosperity  of  all  the  states ;  that  faithful  to  that  com 
pact,  according  to  the  plain  intent  and  meaning  in  which 
it  was  understood  and  acceded  to  by  the  several  parties, 
it  is  sincerely  anxious  for  its  preservation  :  that  it  does 
also  believe,  that  to  take  from  the  states  all  the  powers  of 
self-government,  and  transfer  them  to  a  general  arid  con 
solidated  government,  without  regard  to  the  special  dele 
gations  and  reservations  solemnly  agreed  to  in  that  com 
pact,  is  not  for  the  peace,  happiness,  or  prosperity  of 
these  states  :  and  that,  therefore,  this  commonwealth  is 
determined,  as  it  doubts  not  its  co-states  are,  tamely  to 
submit  to  undelegated  and  consequently  unlimited  powers 
in  no  man  or  body  of  men  on  earth  :  that  if  the  acts  be 
fore  specified  should  stand,  these  conclusions  would  flow 
from  them ;  that  the  general  government  may  place  any 
act  they  think  proper  on  the  list  of  crimes,  and  punish  it 
themselves,  whether  enumerated  or  not  enumerated  by 
the  constitution  as  cognizable  by  them ;  that  they  may 
transfer  its  cognizance  to  the  President  or  any  other  per 
son,  who  may  himself  be  the  accuser,  counsel,  judge  and 
jury,  whose  suspicions  may  be  the  evidence,  his  order  the 
sentence,  his  officer  the  executioner,  and  his  breast  the 
sole  record  of  the  transaction;  that  a  very  numerous  and 
valuable  description  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  states, 
being  by  this  precedent  reduced  as  outlaws  to  the  absolute 
dominion  of  one  man,  and  the  barrier  of  the  constitution 
thus  swept  away  from  us  all,  no  rampart  now  remains 
against  the  passions  and  the  power  of  a  majority  of  Con 
gress  to  protect  from  a  like  exportation,  or  other  more 
grievous  punishment,  the  minority  of  the  same  body,  the 
legislators,  judges,  governors,  and  councillors  of  the 
states,  nor  their  other  peaceable  inhabitants  who  may 
venture  to  reclaim  the  constitutional  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  states  and  people,  or  who  for  other  causes,  good  or 
VOL.  ii.  26 


302  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

bad,  may  be  obnoxious  to  the  views,  or  marked  by  the 
suspicions  of  the  President,  or  be  thought  dangerous  to 
his  or  their  elections,  or  other  interests  public  or  person 
al  ;  that  the  friendless  alien  has  indeed  been  selected  as 
the  safest  subject  of  a  first  experiment ;  but  the  citizen 
will  soon  follow,  or  rather  has  already  followed;  for  al 
ready  has  a  sedition  act  marked  him  as  its  prey ;  that 
these  and  successive  acts  of  the  same  character,  unless 
arrested  on  the  threshold,  may  tend  to  drive  these  states 
into  revolution  and  blood,  and  will  furnish  new  calumnies 
against  republican  governments,  and  new  pretexts  for 
those  who  wish  it  to  be  believed  that  man  cannot  be 
governed  but  by  a  rod  of  iron  :  that  it  would  be  a  dan 
gerous  delusion,  were  a  confidence  in  the  men  of  our 
choice  to  silence  our  fears  for  the  safety  of  our  rights ;  that 
confidence  is  every  where  the  parent  of  despotism  ;  free 
government  is  founded  in  jealousy,  and  not  in  confidence; 
it  is  jealousy,  and  not  confidence,  which  prescribes  limited 
constitutions  to  bind  down  those  whom  we  are  obliged  to 
trust  with  power :  that  our  constitution  has  accordingly 
fixed  the  limits  to  which  and  no  further  our  confidence 
may  go,  and  let  the  honest  advocate  of  confidence  read 
the  Alien  and  Sedition  acts,  and  say  if  the  constitu 
tion  has  not  been  wise  in  fixing  limits  to  the  government 
it  created,  and  whether  we  should  be  wise  in  destroying 
those  limits?  Let  him  say  what  the  government  is,  if  it 
be  not  a  tyranny,  which  the  men  of  our  choice  have  con 
ferred  on  the  President,  and  the  President  of  our  choice 
has  assented  to  and  accepted  over  the  friendly  strangers, 
to  whom  the  mild  spirit  of  our  country  and  its  laws  had 
pledged  hospitality  and  protection ;  that  the  men  of  our 
choice  have  more  respected  the  bare  suspicions  of  the 
President  than  the  solid  rights  of  innocence,  the  claims 
of  justification,  the  sacred  force  of  truth,  and  the  forms 
and  substance  of  law  and  justice.  In  questions  of  power, 
then,  let  no  more  be  heard  of  confidence  in  man,  but 
bind  him  down  from  mischief  by  the  chains  of  the  con 
stitution.  That  this  commonwealth  does  therefore  call 
on  its  co-states  for  an  expression  of  their  sentiments  on 
the  acts  concerning  aliens,  and  for  the  punishment  of 
certain  crimes  herein-before  specified,  plainly  declaring 


INDEPENDENT  TREASURY.  303 

whether  these  acts  are  or  are  not  authorized  by  the  fede 
ral  compact.  And  it  doubts  not  that  their  sense  will  be  so 
announced,  as  to  prove  their  attachment  unaltered  to  lim 
ited  government,  whether  general  or  particular,  and  that 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  their  co-states  will  be  exposed 
to  no  dangers  by  remaining  embarked  on  a  common  bot 
tom  with  their  own ;  that  they  will  concur  with  this  com 
monwealth  in  considering  the  said  acts  were  so  palpably 
against  the  constitution,  as  to  amount  to  an  undisguised 
declaration  that  the  compact  is  not  meant  to  be  the  mea 
sure  of  the  powers  of  the  general  government,  but  that 
it  will  proceed  in  the  exercise  over  these  states  of  all 
powers  whatsoever ;  that  they  will  view  this  as  seizing 
the  rights  of  the  states,  and  consolidating  them  in  the 
hands  of  the  general  government,  with  a  power  assumed 
to  bind  the  states,  not  merely  in  cases  made  federal,  but 
in  all  cases  whatsoever,  by  laws  made,  not  with  their  con 
sent,  but  by  others  against  their  consent ;  that  this  would 
be  to  surrender  the  form  of  government  we  have  chosen, 
and  to  live  under  one  deriving  its  powers  from  its  own 
will,  and  not  from  our  authority ;  and  that  the  co-states, 
recurring  to  their  natural  right  in  cases  not  made  fede 
ral,  will  concur  in  declaring  these  acts  void  and  of  no 
force,  and  will  each  unite  with  this  commonwealth  in 
requesting  their  repeal  at  the  next  session  of  Congress. 


INDEPENDENT  TREASURY. 

WE  have  considered  it  proper  to  publish  the  Indepen 
dent  Treasury  law,  together  with  the  speech  of  the  Hon. 
Levi  Woodbury  on  the  passage  of  the  bill  to  repeal  that 
law,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  June 
9th,  1841.  We  desire  the  people  to  examine  the  whole 
subject  before  they  pass  sentence  of  condemnation  on 
that  important  and  valuable  measure  of  the  late  adminis 
tration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren.  The  real  democracy  of  the 


304  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

country  have  no  wish  to  destroy  sound  banking.  They 
wish  to  produce  a  more  uniform  system  of  the  currency, 
and  to  lessen  the  mischiefs  and  evils  of  over-banking, 
by  preventing,  as  far  as  possible,  the  great  expansions 
and  contractions  of  the  paper  money  system.  Its  con 
tinued  ebbs  and  flows  render  the  value  of  all  property 
uncertain  and  unstable.  The  managers  of  the  scheme 
make  large  fortunes  by  the  ruin  and  distress  they  have 
contributed  to  bring  on  a  most  valuable  class  of  our 
active  and  industrious  citizens. 

AN  ACT 

TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE   COLLECTION,  SAFE-KEEPING,  TRANS 
FER,  AND    DISBURSEMENT    OF    THE    PUBLIC    REVENUE. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa 
tives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assem 
bled,  That  there  shall  be  prepared  and  provided,  within 
the  new  treasury  building  now  erecting  at  the  seat  of 
government,  suitable  and  convenient  rooms  for  the  use 
of  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States,  his  assistants  and 
clerks;  and  sufficient  and  secure  fire-proof  vaults  and 
safes,  for  the  keeping  of  the  public  moneys  in  the  posses 
sion  and  under  the  immediate  control  of  the  said  treasu 
rer;  which  said  rooms,  vaults,  and  safes  are  hereby  con 
stituted  and  declared  to  be  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States.  And  the  said  treasurer  of  the  United  States  shall 
keep  all  the  public  moneys  which  shall  come  to  his  hands 
in  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  as  hereby  consti 
tuted,  until  the  same  are  drawn  therefrom  according  to 
law. 

SEC.  2.  And  be  it  furtJier  enacted,  That  the  mint 
of  the  United  States  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  branch  mint  in  the  city  of 
New  Orleans,  in  the  state  of  Louisiana,  and  the  vaults, 
and  safes  thereof,  respectively,  shall  be  places  of  depos- 
ite  and  safe-keeping  of  the  public  moneys  at  those  points 
respectively;  and  the  treasurer  of  the  said  mint  and 


INDEPENDENT     TREASURY    LAW.  305 

branch  mint,  respectively,  for  the  time  being,  shall  have 
the  custody  and  care  of  all  public  moneys  deposited 
within  the  same,  and  shall  perform  all  the  duties  required 
to  be  performed  by  them,  in  reference  to  the  receipt, 
safe-keeping,  transfer  and  disbursements  of  all  such  mo 
neys,  according  to  the  provisions  hereinafter  contained. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  there  shall 
be  prepared  and  provided,  within  the  custom-houses  now 
erecting  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  and  in  the  city  of  Boston,  in  the  state  of  Massa 
chusetts,  suitable  and  convenient  rooms  for  the  use  of 
the  receivers-general  of  public  moneys,  hereinafter  di 
rected  to  be  appointed,  at  those  places,  respectively ;  and 
sufficient  and  secure  fire-proof  vaults  and  safes  for  the 
keeping  of  the  public  moneys  collected  and  deposited 
with  them,  respectively ;  and  the  receivers-general  of 
public  money,  from  time  to  time,  appointed  at  those 
points,  shall  have  the  custody  and  care  of  the  said  rooms, 
vaults  and  safes,  respectively,  and  of  all  the  public  moneys 
deposited  within  the  same  ;  and  shall  perform  all  the  du 
ties  required  to  be  performed  by  them,  in  reference  to 
the  receipt,  safe-keeping,  transfer,  and  disbursement  of 
all  such  moneys,  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  there  shall 
be  erected,  prepared  and  provided,  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  city  of  Charleston,  in  the  state  of 
South  Carolina,  and  at  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  state 
of  Missouri,  offices,  with  suitable  and  convenient  rooms 
for  the  use  of  the  receivers-general  of  public  money 
hereinafter  directed  to  be  appointed  at  the  places  above 
named  ;  and  sufficient  and  secure  fire-proof  vaults  and 
safes  for  the  keeping  of  the  public  money  collected 
and  deposited  at  those  points,  respectively ;  and  the  said 
receivers-general,  from  time  to  time  appointed  at  those 
places,  shall  have  the  custody  and  care  of  the  said  offi 
ces,  vaults  and  safes,  so  to  be  erected,  prepared  and  pro 
vided,  and  of  all  the  public  moneys  deposited  within  the 
same ;  and  shall  perform  all  the  duties  required  to  be 
performed  by  them ;  in  reference  to  the  receipt,  safe 
keeping,  transfer,  and  disbursement  of  all  such  moneys^ 
according  to  the  provisions  hereinafter  contained. 
VOL.  ii.  26* 


306  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Presi 
dent  shall  nominate,  and,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the 
Senate,  appoint  four  officers,  to  be  denominated  "  recei 
vers-general  of  public  money,"  which  said  officers  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  the  term  of  four  years,  unless  sooner 
removed  therefrom  ;  one  of  which  shall  be  located  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  state  of  New  York ;  one 
other  of  which  shall  be  located  at  the  city  of  Boston,  in 
the  state  of  Massachusetts;  one  other  of  which  shall  be 
located  at  the  city  of  Charleston,  in  the  state  of  South 
Carolina ;  and  the  remaining  one  of  which  shall  be  loca 
ted  at  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  state  of  Missouri ;  and 
all  of  which  said  officers  shall  give  bonds  to  the  United 
States,  with  sureties  according  to  the  provisions  herein 
after  contained,  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  their  respective  offices. 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  treasurer 
of  the  United  States,  the  treasurer  of  the  mint  of  the 
United  States,  the  treasurers,  and  those  acting  as  such, 
of  the  various  branch  mints,  all  collectors  of  the  customs, 
all  surveyors  of  the  customs  acting  also  as  collectors,  all 
receivers-general  of  public  moneys,  all  receivers  of  pub 
lic  moneys  at  the  several  land  offices,  and  all  post-masters, 
except  as  is  hereinafter  particularly  provided,  be,  and  they 
are  hereby,  required  to  keep  safely,  without  loaning  or 
using,  all  the  public  money  collected  by  them,  or  other 
wise  at  any  time  placed  in  their  possession  and  custody, 
till  the  same  is  ordered  by  the  proper  department  or  offi 
cer  of  the  government  to  be  transferred  or  paid  out :  and 
when  such  orders  for  transfer  or  payment  are  received, 
faithfully  and  promptly  to  make  the  same  as  directed,  and 
to  do  and  perform  all  other  duties  as  fiscal  agents  of  the 
government,  which  may  be  imposed  by  this  or  any  other 
acts  of  Congress,  or  by  any  regulation  of  the  treasury 
department,  made  in  conformity  to  law ;  and  also  to  do 
and  perform  all  acts  and  duties  required  by  law,  or  by  di 
rection  of  any  of  the  executive  departments  of  the  go- 
vernment,  as  agents  for  paying  pensions,  or  for  making 
any  other  disbursements  which  either  of  the  heads  of 
those  departments  may  be  required  by  law  to  make,  and 
which  are  of  a  character  to  be  made  by  the  depositaries 


INDEPENDENT   TREASURY    LAW.  307 

hereby  constituted,  consistently  with  the  other  official 
duties  imposed  upon  them. 

SEC.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  treasurer 
of  the  United  States,  the  treasurer  of  the  mint  of  the 
United  States,  the  treasurer  of  the  branch  mint  at  New 
Orleans,  and  the  receivers-general  of  public  money  here- 
in-before  directed  to  be  appointed,  shall,  respectively,  give 
bonds  to  the  United  States,  in  such  form,  and  for  such 
amounts,  as  shall  be  directed  by  the  secretary  of  the  trea 
sury,  by  arid  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  president, 
with  sureties  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  solicitor  of  the 
treasury;  and  shall,  from  time  to  time,  renew,  strength 
en,  and  increase  their  official  bonds,  as  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  with  the  consent  of  the  President,  may  di 
rect  ;  any  law  in  reference  to  any  of  the  official  bonds 
of  any  of  the  said  officers  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

SEC.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  at  as  early  a  day  as 
possible  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  to  require  from  the 
several  depositaries  hereby  constituted,  and  whose  official 
bonds  are  not  herein-before  provided  for,  to  execute  bonds 
new  and  suitable  in  their  terms  to  meet  the  new  and  in 
creased  duties  imposed  upon  them  respectively  by  this 
act,  and  with  sureties,  and  in  sums  such  as  shall  seem 
reasonable  and  safe  to  the  solicitor  of  the  treasury,  and 
from  time  to  time  to  require  such  bonds  to  be  renewed 
and  increased  in  amount  and  strengthened  by  new  sure 
ties,  to  meet  any  increasing  responsibility  which  may 
grow  out  of  accumulations  of  money  in  the  hands  of  the 
depositary,  or  out  of  any  other  duty  or  responsibility  ari 
sing  under  this  or  any  other  law  of  Congress. 

SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  collectors 
and  receivers  of  public  money,  of  every  character  and 
description,  within  the  district  of  Columbia,  shall,  as  fre 
quently  as  they  may  be  directed  by  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  or  the  postmaster-general  so  to  do,  pay  over  to 
the  treasurer  of  the  United  States  at  the  treasury  thereof, 
all  public  moneys  collected  by  them,  or  in  their  hands  ; 
that  all  such  collectors  and  receivers  of  public  moneys 
within  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans,  shall, 
upon  the  same  direction,  pay  over  to  the  treasurers  of 


THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  mints  in  their  respective  cities,  at  the  said  mints,  all 
public  moneys  collected  by  them,  or  in  their  hands ;  and 
that  all  such  collectors  and  receivers  of  public  moneys 
within  the  cities  of  New  York,  Boston,  Charleston,  and 
St.  Louis  shall,  upon  the  same  direction,  pay  over  to  the 
receivers-general  of  public  money  in  their  respective 
cities,  at  their  offices  respectively,  all  the  public  moneys 
collected  by  them,  or  in  their  hands,  to  be  safely  kept  by 
the  said  respective  depositaries,  until  otherwise  disposed 
of  according  to  law;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said 
secretary  and  postmaster-general  to  direct  such  payments 
by  the  said  collectors  and  receivers,  at  all  the  said  places, 
at  least  as  often  as  once  in  each  week,  and  as  much  more 
frequently,  in  all  cases,  as  they,  in  their  discretion,  may 
think  proper. 

SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  transfer  the 
moneys  in  the  hands  of  any  depositary  hereby  constitu 
ted,  to  the  treasury  of  the  United  States ;  to  the  mint  at 
Philadelphia ;  to  the  branch  mint  at  New  Orleans  ;  or  to 
the  offices  of  either  of  the  receivers-general  of  public 
moneys,  by  this  act  directed  to  be  appointed  ;  to  be  there 
safely  kept,  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act ;  and 
also  to  transfer  moneys  in  the  hands  of  any  one  deposi 
tary  constituted  by  this  act  to  any  other  depositary 
constituted  by  the  same,  at  his  discretion,  and  as  the 
safety  of  the  public  moneys  and  the  convenience  of  the 
public  service  shall  seem  to  him  to  require ;  which  au 
thority  to  transfer  the  moneys  belonging  to  the  post-office 
department  is  also  hereby  conferred  upon  the  postmaster- 
general,  so  far  as  its  exercise  by  him  may  be  consistent 
with  the  provisions  of  existing  laws;  and  every  deposita 
ry  constituted  by  this  act  shall  keep  his  account  of  the 
money  paid  to,  or  deposited  with  him,  belonging  to  the 
post-office  department,  separate  and  distinct  from  the  ac 
count  kept  by  him  of  other  public  moneys  so  paid  or  de 
posited.  And  for  the  purpose  of  payments  on  the  public 
account,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  treasurer  of  the  United 
States  to  draw  upon  any  of  the  said  depositaries,  as  he 
may  think  most  conducive  to  the  public  interests,  or  to 
the  convenience  of  the  public  creditors,  or  both. 


INDEPENDENT    TREASURY    LAW.  309 

SEC.  11.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  moneys 
in  the  hands,  care,  and  custody  of  any  of  the  deposita 
ries  constituted  by  this  act,  shall  be  considered  and  held 
as  deposited  to  the  credit  of  the  treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  and  shall  be,  at  all  times,  subject  to  his  draft, 
whether  made  for  transfer  or  disbursement,  in  the  same 
manner  as  though  the  said  moneys  were  actually  in  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States ;  and  each  depositary  shall 
make  returns  to  the  treasury  and  post-office  department 
of  all  moneys  received  and  paid  by  him,  at  such  times, 
and  in  such  form,  as  shall  be  directed  by  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  or  the  postmaster-general. 

SEC.  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  secre 
tary  of  the  treasury  shall  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized 
to  cause  examinations  to  be  made  of  the  books,  accounts, 
and  money  on  hand,  of  the  several  depositaries  constitu 
ted  by  this  act ;  and  for  that  purpose  to  appoint  special 
agents,  as  occasion  may  require,  with  such  compensation 
as  he  may  think  reasonable,  to  be  fixed  and  declared  at 
the  time  of  each  appointment.  The  agents  selected  to 
make  these  examinations  shall  be  instructed  to  examine 
as  well  the  books,  accounts,  and  returns  of  the  officer,  as 
the  money  on  hand,  and  the  manner  of  its  being  kept,  to 
the  end  that  uniformity  and  accuracy  in  the  accounts,  as 
well  as  safety  to  the  public  moneys  may  be  secured 
thereby. 

SEC.  13.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  addition 
to  the  examinations  provided  for  in  the  last  preceding 
section,  and  as  a  further  guard  over  the  public  moneys,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  each  naval  officer  and  surveyor,  as  a 
check  upon  the  receiver-general  of  public  moneys,  or 
collector  of  the  customs,  of  their  respective  districts:  of 
each  register  of  a  land  office,  as  a  check  upon  the  recei 
ver  of  his  land  office ;  and  of  the  director  and  superin 
tendent  of  each  mint  and  branch  mint  when  separate  offi 
cers,  as  a  check  upon  the  treasurers,  respectively,  of  the 
said  mints,  or  the  persons  acting  as  such,  at  the  close  of 
each  quarter  of  the  year,  and  as  much  more  frequently  as 
they  shall  be  directed  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to 
do  so,  to  examine  the  books,  accounts,  returns,  and  money 
on  hand  of  the  receivers-general  of  public  money,  col* 


310  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

lectors,  receivers  of  land  offices,  treasurers,  and  persons 
acting  as  such,  and  to  make  a  full,  accurate,  and  faithful 
return  to  the  treasury  department  of  their  condition. 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said 
officers  respectively,  whose  duty  it  is  made  by  this  act  to 
receive,  keep,  and  disburse  the  public  moneys,  as  the  fis 
cal  agents  of  the  government,  may  be  allowed  any  neces 
sary  additional  expenses  for  clerks,  fire-proof  chests  or 
vaults,  or  other  necessary  expenses  of  safe-keeping,  trans 
ferring,  and  disbursing  said  moneys  :  all  such  expenses 
of  every  character  to  be  first  expressly  authorized  by  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  whose  directions  upon  all  the 
above  subjects,  by  way  of  regulation  and  otherwise,  so 
far  as  authorized  by  law,  are  to  be  strictly  followed  by  all 
the  said  officers  :  Provided,  That  the  whole  number  of 
clerks  to  be  appointed  by  virtue  of  this  section  of  this 
act,  shall  not  exceed  ten,  and  that  the  aggregate  compen 
sation  of  the  whole  number  shall  not  exceed  eight  thou 
sand  dollars,  nor  shall  the  compensation  of  any  one  clerk 
so  appointed,  exceed  eight  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

SEC.  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  secreta 
ry  of  the  treasury  shall,  with  as  much  promptitude  as  the 
convenience  of  the  public  business,  and  the  safety  of  the 
public  funds  will  permit,  withdraw  the  balances  remain 
ing  with  the  present  depositaries  of  the  public  moneys, 
and  confine  the  safe-keeping,  transfer,  and  disbursement 
of  those  moneys  to  the  depositaries  established  by  this  act. 

SEC.  16.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  all  marshals, 
district  attorneys,  and  others,  having  public  money  to  pay 
to  the  United  States,  and  all  patentees,  wishing  to  make 
payment  for  patents  to  be  issued,  may  pay  all  such  mo 
neys  to  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States,  at  the  treasu 
ry,  to  the  treasurer  of  either  of  the  mints  in  Philadelphia 
or  New  Orleans,  to  either  of  the  receivers-general  of 
public  money,  or  to  such  other  depositary  constituted  by 
this  act  as  shall  be  designated  by  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  to  receive 
such  payments,  and  give  receipts  or  certificates  of  depo 
sit  therefor. 

SEC.  17.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  officers 
charged  by  this  act  with  the  safe-keeping,  transfer,  and 


INDEPENDENT   TREASURY    LAW.  311 

disbursement  of  the  public  moneys,  other  than  those  con 
nected  with  the  post-office  department,  are  hereby  re 
quired  to  keep  an  accurate  entry  of  each  sum  received, 
and  of  the  kind  of  money  in  which  it  is  received,  and 
of  each  payment  or  transfer,  and  of  the  kind  of  currency 
in  which  it  is  made  ;  and  if  any  one  of  the  said  officers,  or 
of  those  connected  with  the  post-office  department,  shall 
convert  to  his  own  use,  in  any  way  whatever,  or  shall 
use,  by  way  of  investment,  in  any  kind  of  property  or 
merchandise,  or  shall  loan,  with  or  without  interest,  any 
portion  of  the  public  moneys  intrusted  to  him  for  safe 
keeping,  disbursement,  transfer,  or  for  any  other  pur 
pose,  every  such  act  shall  be  deemed  and  adjudged  to  be 
an  embezzlement  of  so  much  of  the  said  moneys  as  shall 
be  thus  taken,  converted,  invested,  used,  or  loaned,  which 
is  hereby  declared  to  be  a  felony  ;  and  any  officer  or  agent 
of  the  United  States,  and  all  persons  advising  or  partici 
pating  in  such  act,  being  convicted  thereof  before  any 
court  of  the  United  States  of  competent  jurisdiction, 
shall  be  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  a  term  not  less 
than  six  months,  nor  more  than  five  years,  and  to  a  fine 
equal  to  the  amount  of  the  money  embezzled. 

SEC.  18.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  until  the 
rooms,  offices,  vaults,  and  safes,  directed  by  the  first 
four  sections  of  this  act  to  be  constructed  and  prepared 
for  the  use  of  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States,  the 
treasurers  of  the  mints  at  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans, 
and  the  receivers-general  of  public  money  at  New  York, 
Boston,  Charleston,  and  St.  Louis,  can  be  constructed 
and  prepared  for  use,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  to  procure  suitable  rooms  for  offices  for 
those  officers  at  their  respective  locations,  and  to  con 
tract  for  such  use  of  vaults  and  safes  as  may  be  required 
for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  public  moneys  in  the  charge 
and  custody  of  those  officers  respectively,  the  expense  to 
be  paid  by  the  United  States. 

SEC.  19.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  from  and 
after  the  thirtieth  day  of  June,  which  will  be  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty,  the  resolution 
of  Congress  of  the  thirtieth  day  of  April,  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixteen,  so  far  as  it 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

authorizes  the  receipt  in  payment  of  duties,  taxes,  sales 
of  public  lands,  debts,  and  sums  of  money  accruing  or 
becoming  payable  to  the  United  States,  to  be  collected 
and  paid  in  the  notes  of  specie-paying  banks,  shall  be  so 
modified  as  that  one  fourth  part  of  all  such  duties,  taxes, 
sales  of  public  lands,  debts,  and  sums  of  money  accruing 
or  becoming  due  to  the  United  States,  shall  be  collected 
in  the  legal  currency  of  the  United  States  ;  and  from  and 
after  the  thirtieth  day  of  June,  which  will  be  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-one,  one  other 
fourth  part  of  all  such  duties,  taxes,  sales  of  public  lands, 
debts,  and  sums  of  money,  shall  be  so  collected  ;  and 
that  from  and  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  June,  which  will 
be  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two, 
one  other  fourth  part  of  all  such  duties,  taxes,  sales  of 
public  lands,  debts  and  sums  of  money,  shall  be  so  col 
lected  ;  and  that  from  and  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  June, 
which  will  be  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-three,  the  remaining  fourth  part  of  the  said 
duties,  taxes,  sales  of  public  lands,  debts,  and  sums  of 
money,  shall  be  also  collected  in  the  legal  currency  of 
the  United  States;  and  from  and  after  the  last-mentioned 
day,  all  sums  accruing,  or  becoming  payable  to  the 
United  States,  for  duties,  taxes,  sales  of  public  lands,  or 
other  debts,  and  also  all  sums  due  for  postages,  or  other 
wise,  to  the  general  post-office  department,  shall  be  paid 
in  gold  and  silver  only. 

SEC.  20.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  from  and 
after  the  thirtieth  day  of  June,  which  will  be  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-three,  every  officer 
or  agent  engaged  in  making  disbursements  on  account 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  general  post-office,  shall 
make  all  payments  in  gold  and  silver  coin  only;  and  any 
receiving  or  disbursing  officer,  or  agent,  who  shall  neglect, 
evade,  or  violate  the  provisions  of  this  and  the  last  pre 
ceding  section  of  this  act,  shall,  by  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  be  immediately  reported  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  facts  of  such  neglect,  evasion,  or 
violation,  and  also  to  Congress,  if  in  session,  and,  if  not 
in  session,  at  the  commencement  of  its  session  next  after 
the  violation  takes  place. 


INDEPENDENT   TREASURY    LAW.  313 

SEC.  21.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  no  exchange 
of  funds  shall  be  made  by  any  disbursing  officer,  or 
agents,  of  the  government,  of  any  grade  or  denomination 
whatsoever,  or  connected  with  any  branch  of  the  public 
service,  other  than  an  exchange  for  gold  and  silver  ;  and 
every  such  disbursing  officer,  when  the  means  for  his 
disbursements  are  furnished  to  him  in  currency  legally 
receivable  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  make 
his  payments  in  the  currency  so  furnished,  or  when  those 
means  are  furnished  to  him  in  drafts,  shall  cause  those 
drafts  to  be  presented  at  their  place  of  payment,  and 
properly  paid  according  to  the  law,  and  shall  make  his 
payments  in  the  currency  so  received  for  the  drafts  fur 
nished,  unless,  in  either  case,  he  can  exchange  the  means 
in  his  hands  for  gold  and  silver  at  par,  and  so  as  to  facil 
itate  his  payments,  or  otherwise  accommodate  the  public 
service,  and  promote  the  circulation  of  a  metallic  cur 
rency  ;  and  it  shall  be,  and  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of 
the  head  of  the  proper  department  immediately  to  suspend 
from  duty  any  disbursing  officer  who  shall  violate  the 
provisions  of  this  section,  and  forthwith  to  report  the 
name  of  the  officer,  or  agent,  to  the  President,  with  the 
fact  of  the  violation,  and  all  the  circumstances  accom 
panying  the  same  and  within  the  knowledge  of  the  said 
secretary,  to  the  end  that  such  officer,  or  agent,  may  be 
promptly  removed  from  office,  or  restored  to  his  trust 
and  the  performance  of  his  duties,  as  to  the  President 
may  seem  just  and  proper. 

SEC.  22.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall 
not  be  lawful  for  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  make 
or  continue  in  force  any  general  order,  which  shall  create 
any  difference  between  the  different  branches  of  revenue, 
as  to  the  funds  or  medium  of  payment,  in  which  debts  or 
dues  accruing  to  the  United  States  may  be  paid. 

SEC.  23.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  issue  and 
publish  regulations  to  enforce  the  speedy  presentation  of 
all  government  drafts  for  payment  at  the  place  where 
payable,  and  to  prescribe  the  time,  according  to  the  dif 
ferent  distances  of  the  depositaries  from  the  seat  of  go 
vernment,  within  which  all  drafts  upon  them,  respectively, 
VOL.  ii.  27 


314  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN* 

shall  be  presented  for  payment ;  and,  in  default  of  such 
presentation,  to  direct  any  other  mode  and  place  of  pay 
ment  which  he  may  deem  proper ;  but  in  all  those  regu 
lations  and  directions,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  to  guard,  as  far  as  may  be,  against  those, 
drafts  being  used  or  thrown  into  circulation,  as  a  paper 
currency,  or  medium  of  exchange. 

SEC.  24.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  recei 
vers-general  of  public  money  directed  by  this  act  to  be 
appointed,  shall  receive,  respectively,  the  following  sala 
ries,  per  annum,  to  be  paid  quarter-yearly,  at  the  treasu 
ry  of  the  United  States,  to  wit ;  the  receiver-general  of 
public  money  at  New  York  shall  be  paid  a  salary  of  four 
thousand  dollars  per  annum  ;  the  receiver-general  of  pub 
lic  money  at  Boston  shall  be  paid  a  salary  of  two  thou 
sand  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum  ;  the  receiver-gene 
ral  of  public  money  at  Charleston  shall  be  paid  a  salary 
of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum  ;  and 
the  receiver-general  of  public  money  at  St.  Louis  shall  be 
paid  a  salary  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per 
annum;  the  treasurer  of  the  mint  at  Philadelphia  shall, 
in  addition  to  his  present  salary,  receive  five  hundred 
dollars,  annually,  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  im 
posed  by  this  act ;  the  treasurer  of  the  branch  mint  at 
New  Orleans  shall  also  receive  one  thousand  dollars,  an 
nually,  for  the  additional  duties  created  by  this  act;  and 
these  salaries,  respectively,  shall  be  in  full  for  the  servi 
ces  of  the  respective  officers,  nor  shall  either  of  them  be 
permitted  to  charge,  or  receive,  any  commission,  pay,  or 
perquisite  for  any  official  service,  of  any  character  or 
description  whatsoever ;  and  the  making  of  any  such 
charge,  or  the  receipt  of  any  such  compensation,  is  here 
by  declared  to  be  a  misdemeanor,  for  which  the  officer, 
convicted  thereof,  before  any  court  of  the  United  States 
of  competent  jurisdiction,  shall  be  subject  to  punishment 
by  fine,  or  imprisonment,  or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court  before  which  the  offence  shall  be  tried. 

SEC.  25.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  treasu 
rer  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized 
to  receive  at  the  treasury,  and  at  such  other  points  as  he 
may  designate,  payments  in  advance  for  public  lands,  the 


INDEPENDENT    TREASURY    LAW.  315 

payments  so  made,  in  all  cases,  to  be  evidenced  by  the 
receipt  of  the  said  treasurer  of  the  United  States  ;  which 
receipts  so  given  shall  be  receivable  for  public  lands,  at 
any  public  or  private  sale  of  lands,  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  currency  authorized  by  law  to  be  received  in  pay 
ment  for  the  public  lands  :  Provided  however,  That  the 
receipts  given  by  the  treasurer  of  the  United  States,  pur 
suant  to  the  authority  conferred  in  this  section,  shall  not 
be  negotiable  or  transferable,  by  delivery,  or  assignment, 
or  in  any  other  manner  whatsoever,  but  shall  in  all  cases 
be  presented  in  payment  for  lands  by  or  for  the  person  to 
whom  the  receipt  was  given,  as  shown  upon  its  face. 

SEC.  26.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  for  the 
purchase  of  sites,  and  the  construction  of  the  offices  of 
the  receivers-general  of  public  money,  by  this  act  direct 
ed  to  be  erected  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  at 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  there  shall  be  and  hereby  is  appro 
priated,  to  be  paid  out  of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars 
to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  who  is  hereby  required  to  adopt  plans  for 
the  said  offices,  and  the  vaults  and  safes  connected  there 
with,  and  to  cause  the  same  to  be  constructed  and  pre 
pared  for  use  with  as  little  delay  as  shall  be  consistent 
with  the  public  interests,  and  the  convenient  location 
and  security  of  the  buildings  to  be  erected :  Provided, 
however,  That  if  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  shall  find, 
upon  inquiry  or  examination,  that  suitable  rooms  for 
the  use  of  the  receiver-general  at  Charleston  can  be  ob 
tained  in  the  custom-house  now  owned  by  the  United 
States  at  that  place,  and  that  secure  vaults  and  safes  can 
be  constructed  in  that  building  for  the  safe-keeping  of  the 
public  money,  then  he  shall  cause  such  rooms  to  be  pre 
pared  and  fitted  up,  and  such  vaults  and  safes  to  be  con 
structed  in  the  custom-house  at  Charleston,  and  no  inde 
pendent  office  shall  be  there  erected. 

SEC.  27.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  for  the 
payment  of  the  expenses  authorized  by  this  act,  other 
than  those  herein  before  provided  for,  a  sufficient  sum  of 
money  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated,  to  be 
paid  out  of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise 
appropriated. 


316  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

SEC.  28.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  acts  or 
parts  of  acts  which  come  in  conflict  with  the  provisions 
of  this  act  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed. 

APPROVED,  July  4th,  1840. 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH, 

ON  THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY. 

JUNE  9,  1841. 

Mr.  WOODBURY  said  :  It  was  my  misfortune,  sir,  to  be 
in  a  minority  on  the  committee  which  reported  this  bill. 
I  have  heard  nothing  since  to  weaken  my  objections  to 
the  repeal  of  what  is  called  the  Sub-treasury,  but  some 
things  to  strengthen  them  greatly.  The  die,  however,  is 
cast ;  the  Sub-treasury  must,  I  presume,  be  abolished. 
But  I  feel  it  due  to  my  opinions,  expressed  in  the  com 
mittee,  as  well  as  to  friends,  and  the  importance  of  the 
question  to  the  whole  country,  that  the  reasons  for  my  op 
position  to  this  hasty  and  extraordinary  change  in  a  great 
system  for  managing  the  finances  for  the  government,  for 
the  whole  Union,  should  be  publicly  given.  I  am  aware 
of  the  impatience  felt  by  the  majority  for  a  decision,  and 
shall,  therefore,  use  all  possible  brevity. 

It  is  difficult  to  comprehend  the  causes  of  so  much 
haste  in  acting  on  the  present  subject.  Why  repeal  what 
exists  till  some  plan  is  presented  instead  of  it  ?  Let  us 
have  what  you  consider  the  bane  and  antidote  before  us 
at  once.  But,  on  the  contrary,  we  are  in  this  case  asked 
to  destroy  an  existing  system,  in  full  and  successful  opqra- 
tion,  and  which  would  continue  to  be  so,  if  fairly  admin 
istered,  without  expressly  presenting  any  substitute  what 
ever.  We  pull  down  our  present  house,  to  use  the  simile 
of  the  senator  who  originated  this  measure,  without  a 
new  one  elsewhere  to  reside  in,  or  even  a  shantee.  No, 
sir,  not  even  a  log  cabin  for  shelter  till  another  house  is 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH.  317 

built.  We  thus  depart,  also,  from  legislative  usage  in  all 
like  cases.  The  act  of  June,  1836,  in  regulating  the 
state  bank  system,  did  not  repeal  the  former  one  till  the 
new  regulations  could  be  provided  and  duly  executed.  So 
the  sub-treasury  act  did  not  repeal  the  state  bank  system 
till  the  sub-treasury  had  time  to  be  carried  into  full  force. 
He  challenged  gentlemen  to  cite  a  precedent  for  any  such 
rashness  as  the  present.  Even  in  1816  the  public  funds 
were  not  forbidden  to  be  kept  as  before,  till  the  United 
States  Bank  was  chartered  and  in  full  operation.  We 
create,  then,  a  sort  of  dictatorship  as  to  the  finances  in 
the  President  or  secretary  of  the  treasury,  till  some  new 
system  is  hereafter  established  by  law.  We  leave  the 
sacred  funds  of  the  public,  in  a  period  of  profound  peace, 
and  with  no  emergency,  no  urgent  necessity  impending, 
to  the  arbitrary  will  or  caprice  of  mere  executive  dis 
cretion. 

There  is  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  as  to  the  law 
less  expediency  which  will  then  reign,  unless,  by  mere 
construction,  some  other  system  is  revived  by  this  repeal. 
The  repeal  would  be  on  its  face  uncertain,  vague,  loose. 
It  cuts  loose  from  the  old  moorings,  and  puts  to  sea  with 
the  whole  public  revenue,  without  rudder  or  compass.  But 
it  is  said  that  much  can  be  remedied  by  implication,  by 
construction,  by  discretion.  Then  in  abolishing  the  sub- 
treasury,  we  abolish  what  is  a  system,  well  considered, 
and  in  full  force,  and  we  do  this  for  one  to  exist  by  impli 
cation,  and  that  may  mean  any  thing  or  nothing,  to  suit 
those  who  administer  it — one  temporary,  not  certain  in 
its  character,  gone  into  disuse,  obsolete,  impracticable, 
and  which,  if  no  better  is  devised  immediately,  may  be 
fastened  upon  us  for  years  as  the  law  of  the  land.  I 
know  that  repealing  a  repealing  statute,  according  to  an 
old  technical  principle,  well  settled  in  Blackstone,  Bacon, 
and  Coke,  revives  in  force  the  act  existing  before  the 
first  repeal.  We  shall  have,  then,  apparently,  the  act  of 
January,  1836;  and  bad  and  impracticable  in  many  re 
spects  as  that  act  is  admitted  by  many  of  them  to  be, 
they  would  justify  their  course  in  reviving  it,  by  the  apo 
logy,  that  a  better  system  can  and  will  soon  be  substituted 
for  it. 

VOL.  n.  27* 


318  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

But  are  there  not  more  enemies  to  the  sub-treasury, 
than  friends  to  any  particular  successor  ?  Can  all  who 
vote  against  the  former,  unite  in  favor  of  a  bank  like  the 
last  United  States  Bank?  Or  will  all  take  a  fiscal  agent, 
not  a  bank,  and  which  so  many  of  them  have  heretofore 
denounced  ?  Again  :  will  all  unite  in  any  improvement 
of  the  act  of  1836?  We  know  to  the  contrary;  and 
thus,  with  the  best  intentions  soon  to  have  some  different 
system,  except  what  will  spring  up  constructively  after  a 
simple  repeal  of  the  sub-treasury,  the  country  may  never 
get  one.  Look  at  the  experience  on  these  hopes  and 
good  intentions  in  this  very  Senate.  Last  March,  we 
were  in  such  haste  to  get  a  public  printer  acceptable  to 
the  majority,  that  it  was  deemed  necessary,  so  as  to  or 
ganize,  to  remove  Messrs.  Blair  and  Rives,  though  fairly 
chosen,  and  regular  contractors  under  bond,  without 
their  assent,  and  without  a  hearing  or  trial.  Yet  we  are 
now  in  the  second  week  of  another  session,  and  no  suc 
cessors  to  them  have  been  chosen,  or  attempted  to  be 
chosen.  Did  gentlemen  at  that  time  dream  of  such  extra 
ordinary  delay  ?  The  improved  officers,  the  reform  and 
new  organization  which  was  so  indispensable  then  as  not 
to  be  delayed  scarce  a  day,  strangely  remains  yet  unac 
complished.  Gentlemen  may  find  troubles,  and  family 
schisms  and  procrastination  as  to  the  new  fiscal  agent 
they  intend  soon  to  create,  which  may  lead  to  even  lon 
ger  delay  than  has  occurred  in  the  appointment  of  new- 
printers. 

In  the  mean  time,  this  body  and  the  Union  may  be  sub 
jected  to  the  discretion  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  in  keeping  and 
disbursing  the  public  money,  and  which  the  Senate  has 
been  subjected  to  in  its  chief  officers  since  last  March, 
in  respect  to  its  public  printing.  We  have  been  too  often, 
of  late  years,  forced  into  this  condition  of  mere  con 
struction.  Who  has  done  our  printing  since,  and  at  what 
price  ?  and  by  whose  direction,  and  under  what  law  1 
Nobody,  nobody,  sir,  except  under  the  arbitrary  will  of 
our  president  pro  tern,  and  our  secretary.  Exercised  that 
will  may  have  been  discreetly,  and  doubtless  with  good 
intention  ;  but  under  what  law,  what  constitution,  or  what 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH.  819 

printed  rule  ?  Are  we  then  to  be  governed  by  star  cham 
ber  commissions  or  state  circulars  ?  Gentlemen  felt 
much  more  jealous  and  sensitive  on  these  subjects  of  un 
limited  discretion  in  1836,  it  seems,  than  now  ;  and  the 
union  of  the  purse  and  sword,  which  was  then  the  bur 
den  of  daily  denunciation — that  very  union  they  are,  by 
this  precipitate  repeal,  as  I  shall  endeavor  soon  to  demon 
strate,  they  are  forewarned,  and  deliberately,  voting  to 
produce.  Yes ;  to  produce  it  for  a  time,  they  cannot  but 
admit ;  and  for  months,  if  not  years,  all  will  concede  is 
possible,  if  not  probable.  To  accomplish  this  union, 
what  is  proposed  to  be  previously  done? 

Independent  of  the  unprecedented  manner,  what  is  the 
substance  of  our  action  to  be  on  this  occasion  ?  What 
kind  of  a  system  do  we  abolish — and  why  ?  And  what 
kind  of  a  system  do  we  virtually  substitute  for  it?  Even 
for  a  day,  or  an  hour,  as  the  gentleman  from  Virginia 
said  yesterday,  we  should  not  uselessly  leave  the  public 
funds  to  discretion.  Is  it  for  the  mere  whim  of  change — 
change — change — and  change  also  for  the  worse,  that  we 
must  pass  the  repeal,  and  the  repeal  of  a  great  measure 
affecting  millions  of  people,  and  millions  on  millions  of 
the  public  treasure  ? 

What  are  the  reasons,  then,  for  action  upon  it  ?  Why, 
forsooth,  the  mover  of  the  measure  says  no  reason  need 
be  given.  It  is  a  case  already  decided.  The  people 
have  returned  a  verdict  against  the  sub-treasury,  and  we 
have  come  here  merely  to  enter  up  judgment  against  the 
sub-treasury  system  and  its  friends. 

If  this  be  our  position  in  fact,  I  hope  we  shall  have  the 
benefit  of  that  gentleman's  experience,  as  well  as  sympa 
thy,  since  in  1828,  on  the  same  theory  of  reasoning,  the 
people  returned  a  verdict  against  a  former  administration, 
of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  member.  But  will  he 
admit  now,  or  did  he  then  admit,  that  the  election  settled 
all  the  points  in  discussion  before  the  people,  and  that  a 
verdict  was  returned  against  him  and  them  on  all  these 
points  ?  Far  from  it.  We  were  sent  here  to  examine, 
to  reason,  and  to  decide  ourselves  on  reasons  and  facts, 
and  not  on  fancied  verdicts. 

We  came  here  to  do   a  great  public  act  on  behalf  of 


320  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

seventeen  millions  of  people  and  twenty-six  states  of  this 
Union.  Ought  they  to  do  this  without  duly  considering 
what  was  the  duty  required  of  them  1  And  what  must 
be  the  effect  of  their  act,  whether  that  effect  were  tem 
porary  or  permanent  ?  Without  this,  they  could  not  act 
discreetly  in  abolishing  an  important  existing  system. 
Mr.  W.  would  readily  admit,  as  some  gentlemen  had  sug 
gested,  that  there  had  been  much  talk  against  the  sub- 
treasury,  and  some  arguments  during  the  presidential 
canvass.  It  had  been  greatly  abused  and  grossly  misre 
presented,  but  he  was  not  prepared  to  admit  that  there 
had  been  any  verdict  of  the  people  against  it.  Was  the  re 
peal  or  the  continuance  of  this  law  the  only  issue  made 
before  the  people  at  the  late  election  ?  Was  the  result 
of  that  election  a  verdict  on  that  issue  alone,  and  not  on 
others  ?  The  senator  from  Kentucky  had,  to  be  sure, 
said  that  they  came  here  for  judgment — to  carry  into  exe 
cution  the  verdict  of  the  American  people ;  but  he  would 
ask  that  senator  again  whether  the  result  of  that  election 
was  to  be  held  as  a  decision  by  the  people  on  all  the 
questions  which  had  been  discussed  before  them  1  If  so, 
how  did  it  happen  that  they  were  sitting  here  in  this 
splendid  hall,  lighted  by  the  magnificent  and  rcostly  can 
delabra,  and  other  splendid  decorations  now  before  them? 
Had  it  not  been  decided  that  there  should  be  no  extrava 
gances  of  this  kind,  with  all  its  unavoidable  expendi 
ture?  that  gentlemen  must  not  eat  out  of  gold  spoons, 
but  must  use  horn  ?  that  the  President  must  live  in  a 
log-cabin,  and  not  in  a  palace  ?  ride  on  a  pony,  and  not 
in  a  coach?  that  they  must  not  indulge  themselves  in 
the  luxury  of  champagne,  but  must  drink  only  hard  ci 
der  ?  Did  not  the  verdict  of  the  people  cover  all  that  ? 
It  was  easy  for  gentlemen  to  talk  about  issues  being  deci 
ded  by  elections,  but  he  asked,  what  had  been  the  issue 
in  1828,  and  what  had  been  the  verdict  given  then  ? 

The  senator  had  had  some  experience  in  such  matters, 
then,  as  before  suggested.  Did  he  believe  that  the  peo 
ple  had  passed  a  verdict  on  all  the  questions  which  had 
been  mooted  during  that  election  ?  No  ;  nor  did  Mr.  W. 
They  had  different  questions  argued  then  ;  they  had  the 
question  about  soda  water  furnished  at  public  expense, 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH.  321 

about  billiard  tables  paid  for  out  of  the  public  money, 
and  other  grave  issues  of  a  very  different  and  high  cha 
racter  as  to  Panama  missions,  and  certain  presidential 
coalitions.  Did  the  senator  hold  that  the  people  had  de 
livered  their  verdict  on  all  these  points?  Why  cut  out 
the  sub-treasury  from  all  the  other  subjects  agitated  at 
the  late  election,  then,  and  say  that  the  verdict  of  the 
people  had  been  given  on  that  issue  ?  But  some  of  the 
gentlemen  held  the  doctrine  that  they  were  not  bound 
even  by  express  written  instructions  from  their  own  con 
stituents.  Much  less,  then,  were  they  bound  by  a  ver 
dict  given  on  five  hundred  issues,  given  at  cross-roads, 
given  at  grog-shops,  and  on  the  hustings.  There  was 
nothing  in  this  argument.  It  answered  very  well  to  talk 
about  for  political  effect ;  but  the  people  decided  no  is 
sues  but  such  as  they  put  on  record.  The  issue  they 
decided  was,  that  they  elected  this  man  as  their  chief 
magistrate,  and  riot  that  man.  That  was  an  issue  by 
which  all  were  bound,  and  which  all  must  respect.  But 
the  evidence  went  no  further.  For  that  reason  it  was 
that  he  addressed  arguments  to  gentlemen,  and  entreated 
them  not  to  throw  themselves  on  imaginary  or  uncertain 
verdicts.  He  asked  them  what  they  were  abolishing? 
What  were  their  reasons  for  abolishing  it,  and  what  were 
the  facts  of  the  case  ? 

You  propose  to  annul  a  system  which  facts  sustain  and 
sound  principles  justify,  however  much  it  has  been  as 
sailed  from  Maine  to  Louisiana,  by  the  gross  misrepre 
sentations  and  wanton  libels — caricatures,  coarse  and  ob 
scene  songs — stump  speeches  and  log-cabin  carousals — 
all  enlisted  against  it.  But  in  these  cooler  moments  of 
political  strife,  all  must  admit  that  the  sub-treasury, 
though  not  so  fashionable  in  its  appearance  as  the  marble 
palaces  of  some  banks,  is  a  plain,  honest,  straight-forward 
system.  To  the  admirers  of  the  improved,  refined,  po 
lished,  boasted  credit  system  of  recent  times,  the  sub- 
treasury  may  not  seem  to  deal  so  flippantly  in  millions  on 
paper ;  but  what  it  has  is  its  own.  It  does  not  strut  in 
borrowed  plumes,  nor  does  it  cast  off  its  clothing  if  a 
little  old  fashioned,  or  indeed  homespun,  for  the  dandy 
robes  and  essenced  equipments  of  its  rivals — the  lovers 


322  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  the  improved  modern  modes  of  growing  rich  without 
capital,  and  on  the  industry  of  others. 

In  its  documents  and  transactions,  it  may  not  use  all 
the  classical  engravings  of  the  Pennsylvania  United  States 
Bank,  or  the  Gallipolis  bank ;  but  it  has  always  redeemed 
its  promises  a  little  more  promptly,  and  indulged  a  little 
less  in  unauthorized  cotton  speculations  or  gambling  pur 
chases  of  stocks;  whether  in  rail-roads,  canals,  or  litho 
graphic  cities  ;  and  whether  on  the  lakes,  the  Atlantic,  or 
the  Mississippi,  or,  passing  the  boundaries  of  the  Union, 
dabbling  in  Texan  scrip  or  Mexican  bonds.  It  may  be 
somewhat  antiquated.  If  the  sub-treasury  be  not  a  new 
invention,  like  some  of  the  modern  banking,  in  approved 
modern  style,  it  has  the  superior  merit  of  being  justified 
by  considerable  experience  in  the  world.  It  was  in  ex 
istence  here  long  in  the  general  government,  and  in  most 
of  the  states,  with  county  and  town  treasurers,  as  well  as 
with  more  important  ones,  and  has,  substantially,  for  cen 
turies,  been  in  force  in  most  of  the  civilized,  safe,  and 
flourishing  governments  of  Europe.  It  is  merely  a  sys 
tem  to  keep,  as  the  act  of  1789  simply  provides  to  keep 
the  public  money,  and  not  to  lend  it.  To  keep  it  safely 
till  wanted,  and  not  loosely  to  be  squandered  hi  specula 
tions;  and  to  keep  it  in  specie,  or  its  equivalent,  so  as  to 
have  something  on  hand  useful,  reliable,  and  honest,  for 
the  payment  of  debts,  instead  of  being  left  in  the  mere 
rags  or  fog.  This  is  the  true  substance  of  this  abused 
system.  Next,  it  is  a  system  complete  in  all  its  parts, 
and  clear  in  its  provisions — well  argued — well  matured — 
well  guarded — rather  than  the  piebald,  uncertain,  de 
nounced,  and  arbitrary  system,  which  must,  in  the  pre 
sent  condition  of  the  banking  institutions,  virtually  suc 
ceed  to  it  by  this  unqualified  repeal. 

Furthermore,  it  is  a  system,  above  all  others,  eminently 
constitutional.  It  is  partly  developed  in  that  holy  instru 
ment  itself,  and  it  was  one  of  the  first  offspring  of  legis 
lation  under  it — imperfect  and  limited  then,  I  admit,  but 
yet  essentially  the  same  as  now,  except  more  carefully 
and  explicitly  regulated  now,  and  suited  to  our  increased 
territory,  numbers,  and  wealth. 

In  the  next  place,  the  sub-treasury  is  a  system  indepen- 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH.  323 

dent.  This  has  justly  been  its  title,  and  one  of  its  boasts. 
It  neither  creeps  nor  cringes  to  corporations  or  bank  di 
rectors  for  aid,  but  has  within  itself  officers,  safes,  vaults, 
and  powers,  rendering  it  like  the  general  government  as 
to  states,  self-moving,  self-acting,  self-efficient,  and  thus 
independent. 

It  is,  also,  a  system  that  can  be  enforced.  It  has  proved 
practicable,  notwithstanding  all  prophecies  to  the  contra 
ry,  and  will  continue  to  prove  so,  if  properly  administered, 
and  if  such  amendments  are  made  in  details,  not  affecting 
its  vital  principles,  as  experience  may  require.  Its  fruits 
thus  far  have  been  salutary;  its  officers  are  amenable  to 
us,  and  not  to  the  banks  or  the  states  ;  and  their  opera 
tions  are  regulated  by  us,  and  not  by  others,  over  whom 
we  have  no  control. 

It  is  a  system  econonomicaL  Its  whole  expenses  year 
ly,  after  its  operations  began,  will  be  scarce  half  what  the 
new  secretary  of  the  treasury  proposes  indirectly  to  give 
a  bank  of  the  United  States,  by  borrowing  four  millions 
on  interest,  to  be  used  as  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  and, 
of  course,  to  be  deposited  in  his  new  national  bank,  to 
be  used  there  without  compensation  for  loans  and  ac 
commodations. 

It  is  likewise  a  safe  system.  Whatever  Mr.  Ewing 
may  say  as  to  losses  in  connection  with  it,  he  takes  spe 
cial  care  in  his  amount  of  losses,  to  go  back  twelve  years 
instead  of  one  year  since  this  system  begun.  He  thus 
speaks  of  losses  by  millions  within  twelve  years,  and 
which  must  have  been  under  the  United  States  bank  sys 
tem  and  state  bank  system.  But  he  does  not  specify  the 
loss  of  a  dollar  under  this  system  alone. 

[Mr.  CLAY,  speaking  across,  said  the  accounts  have 
not  been  yet  settled.] 

Mr.  WOODBURY  replied  :  No  losses  have  yet  been 
made  known,  and  if  any  existed,  or  were  believed  to 
exist,  the  powers  that  be  would  riot  be  slow  in  publishing 
them.  The  new  secretary  dwells  also  on  its  exposure  to 
robberies,  when  not  one  has  ever  taken  place  ;  while 
within  the  period  of  its  existence,  banks  without  num 
ber  have  been  robbed  in  all  possible  ways  and  to  almost 
all  possible  amounts.  It  has  been  almost  a  universal 


324  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

wreck  in  some  states.  Just  on  the  eve  of  our  arrival 
here,  and  in  an  adjoining  county,  one  seems  to  have  been 
robbed  of  more  than  the  amount  of  its  whole  capital. 
Neither  the  president,  nor  secretary,  nor  the  keeper  of 
the  money,  could  touch  a  dollar  of  it,  except  as  the  law 
directs,  without  a  robbery  and  condign  punishment.  The 
country  has  been  made  to  believe  wrongfully,  that  any 
of  these  officers  could  take  the  money  at  pleasure,  and 
thus  had  entire  control  over  the  purse. 

Nor  could  the  president,  secretary,  or  others,  loan  a 
dollar  of  the  public  money  under  the  sub-treasury,  with 
out  danger  of  fine  and  imprisonment — without,  indeed, 
being  burglars  or  thieves — and  the  penitentiary  reclaim 
ing  its  fugitives.  This  was  not  a  system  where  the  funds 
can  be  applied  to  maintain  political  favorites — or  to  buy 
up  political  presses — or  to  circulate  political  speeches 
and  pamphlets — or  to  fee  counsel — or  to  give  salaries  of 
$100,000  to  single  officers.  But  under  the  bank  system, 
its  officers  could  and  have  taken  millions  on  millions 
without  authority  or  punishment — and  loaned  or  specu 
lated  with  it  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe.  Our  ears 
have  been  almost  stunned  with  the  crash  of  banks  around 
us  in  every  quarter.  Scarce  a  wave  floats  by  us-  that  does 
not  bear  fragments  of  ruin.  Indeed,  this  very  bill  of 
repeal  contains  a  high  and  deserved  compliment  to  the 
safety  of  the  sub-treasury  system,  however  much  ques 
tioned  by  Mr.  Ewing,  for  it  re-enacts  one  of  its  promi 
nent  and  much-abused  provisions  to  punish  defaults  and 
embezzlements. 

Again,  how  much  safer  is  its  currency  ?  What  would 
have  been  the  credit  of  the  general  government  the  last 
four  years,  with  United  States  Bank  notes  on  hand  for 
public  payments,  red  dog  notes,  Brandon  bank  bills — and 
all  the  shinplaster  litter  ?  It  would  have  been  as  low  as 
that  of  many  of  the  spendthrifts,  speculators,  and  parti 
san  vagabonds,  who  have  assailed  it,  instead  of  being  as 
high  as  any  government  in  the  civilized  world.  What 
would  have  been  the  losses  also  in  its  receipts  and  expen 
ditures  with  such  depreciated  trash  1 

In  1816,  by  taking  such  paper,  the  loss  was  computed 
by  Mr.  Gallatin,  to  the  government  alone,  at  near  four 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH.  325 

millions :  and,  by  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  in  1832,  it  was  computed  at  the  appalling 
amount  of  thirty-four  millions. 

Another  of  its  excellences  is,  its  comparative  freedom 
from  executive  influence.  The  distortions  of  party  have 
however  charged  and  blackened  it  all  over  the  coun 
try  with  being  the  reverse  in  this  respect — with  what 
truth  and  justice,  let  an  impartial  examination  of  the  act 
demonstrate.  Not  an  officer  of  importance  can  be  ap 
pointed  under  it,  without  the  control  and  approval  of  the 
Senate.  But  under  the  other  system,  the  bank  that  held 
the  money  was  selected  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury 
alone,  or  by  the  President  alone,  without  any  interference 
of  the  Senate.  They  were  changed  at  pleasure,  too,  by 
them,  and  its  officers  by  the  bank  directors  or  bank  stock 
holders.  On  the  contrary,  the  officers  of  the  treasury 
could  not  be  changed  without  the  sanction  of  the  Senate. 
Yet  the  partisan  cry  has  been,  the  sub-treasury  !  increas 
ed  executive  influence  !  Unfounded.  It  has  diminished 
such  influence  in  every  way. 

If  the  officers  can  be  removed  now,  without  cause — 
and  such  things  seem  possible,  by  the  sudden  new  ap 
pointments,  since  the  4th  of  March,  of  receivers-general 
at  Boston,  New  York,  and  Charleston — so  the  banks 
could  have  been  before  this  system,  or  at  least  their  offi 
cers  could  have  been,  and  by  stockholders,  politicians 
out  of  office,  as  well  as  by  the  President  ?  Whether  rea 
sons  are  yet  to  be  given,  remains  yet  to  be  seen.  If  they 
are,  or  if  the  Senate  does  its  duty,  it  will  be  known  whe 
ther  executive  influence  is  not  checked  or  restrained, 
instead  of  being  increased.  Nobody  had  been  displaced 
before  for  these  receivers,  and  no  charges  whatever  have 
been  published  against  their  irreproachable  characters. 

But  more  of  this  power  and  practice  of  removal  on 
some  future  occasion,  when  we  will  see  how  proscription 
has  been  proscribed  by  this  reforming  administration,  and 
how  it  has  put  down,  among  its  other  reforms,  the  reward 
ing  of  political  partisans  by  office — how  it  has  set  officers 
free  from  fear  and  favor,  and  emancipated  them — how 
office-holders  have  ceased  to  be  pliant  creatures  of  the 
executive,  and  how  members  of  Congress  have  been  ex- 
VOL.  ii.  28 


326  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

eluded  from  executive  influence,  by  being  excluded  from 
any  share  in  the  odious  spoils  of  office. 

Again,  as  to  the  comparative  influence  of  the  executive 
out  of  doors  in  pecuniary  matters  under  the  sub-treasury 
and  former  systems ;  let  them  come  down  to  facts.  Could 
the  executive  put  his  hands  into  the  vaults  of  the  sub- 
treasury  and  take  out  a  single  dollar  without  subjecting 
himself  to  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  ?  Not  a  dollar 
could  be  drawn  out  but  by  warrants  and  drafts.  Neither 
the  President  nor  his  secretary  of  the  treasury  could  take 
from  its  custody  enough  to  buy  a  pen,  nor  could  they 
loan  out  the  public  money  for  purposes  of  speculation  or 
gambling.  If  they  attempted  such  a  thing,  they  would 
be  convicted  of  embezzlement  and  sent  to  prison.  Was 
this  the  case  under  the  bank  system  ?  Could  not  the 
executive,  or  the  secretary,  in  person  or  through  their 
friends,  be  accommodated  with  loans  by  a  bank  of  the 
United  States  or  by  the  pet  banks  1  Had  not  the  public 
money  been  lent  in  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
to  friends  of  the  bank,  both  out  of  Congress  and  in 
Congress  ?  But  when  had  a  dollar  of  the  public  money 
been  loaned  under  the  sub-treasury  ?  The  thing  could 
not  be  done  without  burglary  and  theft.  And  yet,  strange 
to  tell,  the  community  seemed  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  under  that  much-abused  system  the  President  and 
secretary  of  the  treasury  could  take  and  use  for  their 
own  purposes  just  as  much  of  the  public  money  as  they 
pleased.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  sub-treasury,  in 
every  way,  restricted  and  reduced,  instead  of  increased 
executive  influence  ;  and  one  of  the  gorgons  conjured  up 
against  it  before  the  community  turns  out  to  be  mere 
vapor  and  false  glare. 

But  the  sub-treasury  system  had  yet  one  other  and  in 
finitely  greater  excellence.  It  did  not  stimulate  the  spirit 
of  wild  and  reckless  speculation  by  loaning  out  the  pub 
lic  money.  All  such  loans  were,  by  that  law,  strictly 
prohibited,  and  it  was  an  acknowledgment  and  homage 
paid  by  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  to  the  excellence  of 
that  law,  that,  bent  as  he  was  on  destroying  the  system, 
he  retained  this  feature  of  it,  and  incorporated  it  in  his 
own  bill.  That  system  provided  likewise  no  stimulus 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH.  327 

for  overtrading.  On  the  contrary,  its  effect  was  to  sub 
due  and  quench  that  destructive  fire  which  had  consumed 
the  prosperity  of  the  country.  It  kept  the  public  treasure 
where  it  could  be  had  when  it  was  wanted.  Every  re 
ceiver-general,  every  treasurer  of  a  mint,  must  be  ready 
to  pass  over  every  dollar  of  the  funds  in  his  hands  on  its 
demand  by  the  government.  But  was  this  the  case  un 
der  the  bank  ?  Far  from  it.  When  the  money  was 
most  wanted  by  the  government,  it  was  most  wanted  by 
the  banks  also. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  checked  instead  of  stimulating 
expansions  and  over-issues.  It  was  calculated  to  work  a 
slow,  but  sure  reform  in  banking,  in  every  neighborhood 
where  much  public  money  was  collected ;  because  it 
throws  back  on  the  speculating  and  expanding  bank  for 
specie,  their  excessive  emissions  of  paper. 

But,  in  the  next  place,  he  was  compelled  to  look  at 
what  must  succeed  this  system  when  it  was  destroyed, 
whether  it  was  temporarily  or  permanently.  What  would 
succeed  it  temporarily  ?  Nothing  was  provided  in  the 
bill  itself,  but  it  was  held  that  the  previous  law  revived 
ipso  facto.  Now,  if  the  sub-treasury  was  destroyed, 
what  law  would  be  revived  by  its  repeal?  We  were  to 
have  the  act  of  1836,  with  all  its  acknowledged  imper 
fections  in  its  train.  Would  this  be  a  better  system  ? 
Wise  men  did  not  pull  down  one  thing  to  substitute 
another,  unless  that  other  were  a  better.  The  act  of 
1836  was  not  without  some  excellences.  It  contained  a 
provision  which  restrained  the  secretary  from  removing 
the  deposits  from  a  bank  where  they  had  been  placed, 
provided  that  bank  continued  to  redeem  its  notes  in 
specie  ;  it  also  forbade  the  depositing  of  the  public  money 
in  non-specie-paying  banks,  and  in  banks  issuing  notes 
under  five  dollars.  Some  approved  of  it  in  the  abstract, 
because  it  was  a  system  regulated  by  law.  When  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  under  President  Jackson,  had 
been  forced  to  remove  the  public  deposits  from  their 
former  depository,  as  he  was  authorized  to  do  by  an 
express  law,  and  there  existed  no  regulated  system  for 
the  safe-keeping  of  them,  he  had  implored  Congress  to 
pass  a  law  for  that  purpose,  and  they  passed  the  law  of 


328  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

1836.     It  had  these  excellences.     But  they  were   coun 
tervailed  by  defects  which,   in  connection  with  commer 
cial  convulsions  and  foreign  oppression,   broke  it  down 
in  twelve  months,  and   it  was  now  a  dead  letter.     One 
gentleman  had  suggested  that  it  may  have  been  destroyed 
by  faults   in   its   administration,   and   not   in   the  system 
itself.     This  suggestion  had  been  made  before.     Mr.  W. 
would  not  argue  whether  this  were  the  case  or  not,  but 
he  saw  ample  cause  for  its  failure  without  this.     It  pro 
vided  that  twelve  or  thirteen  millions  of  what  had  been 
deposited    in   safe  banks  should   be  taken  out  of  them 
and  divided  among  seventy  or  eighty  others,  for  no  other 
purpose    than   to  give   each   of  them   the   benefit   of  its 
possession.     A  bank  was  to  be  selected  in  every  state, 
and  numbers  in  some  of  the  states,  as  no  one  could  hold 
over  a  certain  ratio  to  its  capital,  and  the  effect  was  gene 
ral  stimulation  of  the  community  to  every  form  of  specu 
lation  and  gambling.     The  banks  were  required  to  pay 
interest  for  the  money,   at  least   for  all   they  held  over  a 
given  proportion,  and  they  consented  to  take  the  money, 
obviously  because  they  expected  to  loan   it  out.     Was 
not  this  in  itself  sufficient  to   break  down   any  set  of 
banks  in  the  world  ?     Could  such   an  operation  be  ac 
complished  without  infinite  distress?     To  force  suddenly 
twelve  or  thirteen  millions  of  dollars  out  of  the  channels 
of  trade,  and  to  put  it  in   entirely  different  depositaries, 
was  an  operation  which  Mr.  W.  insisted  to  be  one  true 
cause  of  the  ruin  which  followed.     That   alone  was  suf 
ficient  to  account  for  it ;  but  on  the  back  of  this,  there 
was  superadded  the  requirement  to  collect  within  nine 
months  36  millions  more,  and  pay  it  over  to  the  states. 
Was  it  any  wonder  that  the  most  ruinous  circumstances 
should  follow  ?     No  ;  discretion  was  left  to  the  secretary  ; 
the  time  was  fixed  by  law,  and,  should  he  fail  to  obey,  he 
was  liable  to  be  impeached,  and  was   actually  threatened 
with  impeachment.     This  great  work  he  had   actually 
done  as  to  the  thirteen  millions,  and  then  he  had  collected 
nine  millions,  and  then  nine  more,  and  deposited  it  with 
the  states  in  specie,  or  in  specie  worth,  and  it  was  em 
phatically  said   at  the  time  that  every  instalment  in  the 
payment  of  this  money  was  a  new  turn  of  the  screw. 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH.  329 

The  pressure  rose  from  rheumatism  to  gout,  and  from 
gout  to  convulsion.  All  this  suffering  had  been  attribu 
ted  to  the  executive  and  to  the  treasury  department,  as 
though  it  were  their  wrong,  when,  in  fact,  they  had  but 
carried  out  the  law  of  Congress.  Then  had  come,  in 
addition  to  all  the  rest,  an  unexampled  recoil  from  abroad, 
produced  by  the  course  of  the  Bank  of  England.  Ame 
rican  credit  was  suddenly  cut  off  by  millions  at  a  blow, 
and  the  distinguished  American  houses  were  obliged  at 
once  to  stop  all  their  open  credits.  Yet  this,  too,  was 
charged  upon  the  treasury. 

In  such  a  condition,  without  any  fault  on  the  part  of 
the  executive,  the  United  States  Bank  went  by  the  board 
with  the  others.  The  old  bills  had  not  all  been  redeemed 
in  specie  to  this  day.  If  its  charter  had  been  renewed, 
and  the  forty  millions  of  public  money  had  then  been  in 
its  vaults  to  be  drawn  out  as  the  fatal  act  of  1836  im 
prudently  required,  it  would  have  been  one  of  the  first 
institutions  to  suspend  specie  payments,  as  it  was,  with 
out  being  compelled  to  disgorge  such  an  immense  sum 
for  the  government. 

No  intelligent  merchant  or  financier  in  the  civilized 
world  can  be  informed  of  all  the  facts,  undisguised,  and 
arrive  at  any  different  conclusions.  To  illustrate,  that  it 
was  the  collecting  and  paying  over  such  immense  sums, 
in  connection  with  the  other  convulsions  which  prostrated 
such  a  system,  rather  than  any  thing  wrong  in  its  exe 
cution,  I  will  trouble  the  senate  with  a  single  anecdote. 

In  compliance  with  the  requisitions  of  the  law,  depo 
sits  were  made  in  North  Carolina,  which  carried  money 
out  of  the  usual  course  of  trade.  The  order  to  transfer 
the  funds  was  given  in  advance,  payable  in  North  Caro 
lina.  This  was  strenuously  objected  to,  and  the  secre 
tary  was  asked  why  he  did  not  make  the  order  payable 
in  New  York.  The  secretary  was  acquainted  with  the 
operations  of  trade,  and  knew  that  the  order  could  better 
be  met  in  North  Carolina  than  in  New  York,  because 
New  York  was  then  drained  of  specie,  and  claims  might 
be  due  to  it  in  North  Carolina  sufficient  to  pay  it  there. 
But  the  drawees  came  to  him,  and  insisted  that  the  drafts 
should  be  made  payable  in  New  York.  He  did  so,  and 
VOL.  ii.  29* 


330  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

the  holders  immediately  went  to  New  York  and  demand 
ed  the  specie.  The  drawees  at  once  saw  that  by  the 
change  they  had  aggravated  the  evil,  by  losing  more  spe 
cie,  instead  of  finding  relief;  and  they  entreated  that  the 
department  would  make  the  future  drafts  payable,  as  they 
had  been  made  originally,  in  North  Carolina.  It  was, 
however,  the  being  obliged  to  part  with  the  public  money 
in  such  large  sums,  in  so  sudden  a  manner  as  the  laws 
rendered  imperative,  that  led  to  embarrassment,  and  not 
the  form  or  manner  of  paying  them. 

It  reminded  Mr.  W.  of  the  Irishman  who  was  ordered 
to  be  flogged,  and  when  he  was  flogged  low  down,  wanted 
to  be  flogged  higher  up  ;  but  when  flogged  higher  up, 
wanted  to  be  flogged  lower  down.  Mr.  W.  had  been 
determined  to  execute  the  law,  cost  what  it  would,  and 
let  those  who  made  it  be  answerable  to  posterity,  that 
just  tribunal  whose  judgments,  though  often  slow,  were 
ever  sure  and  true.  As  might  naturally  have  been  ex 
pected,  the  newly  made  deposit  banks,  flushed  with  the 
possession  of  their  twelve  or  thirteen  millions  of  dollars, 
speedily  disgorged  this  treasure  upon  the  community,  (as 
the  former  deposit  banks  had  already  done)  for  they  had 
been  obliged  to  pay  interest  for  it,  and  were  glad  to  loan 
it  out  as  soon  as  possible.  The  consequence  of  this,  in 
both  sets  of  banks,  had  been  that  the  land  sales,  which 
usually  realized  from  two  to  three  millions  of  dollars, 
were  swelled  to  twenty-four  millions  in  a  single  year. 
For  the  prices  of  public  land,  too,  were  kept  low,  while 
all  other  prices  rose,  and  the  banks  virtually  gave  credit 
for  the  purchase,  instead  of  the  treasury.  The  banks 
which  had  loaned  their  money  to  individuals  instead  of 
the  government,  giving  credit  or  loans  for  the  lands  as 
formerly,  when  called  upon  by  government  to  pay,  could 
not  collect  it  in,  nor  what  had  been  lavishly  loaned  for 
other  speculations  and  trade,  and  the  natural  conse 
quence  was,  that  they  all  went  to  wreck — suspension  was 
inevitable.  But  these  lamentable  consequences  were  not 
to  be  charged  to  the  administration  of  the  pet  bank 
system,  but  to  the  provisions  of  the  law  itself.  And 
were  gentlemen  called  upon  now  to  revive  such  a  system 
as  this  ?  Must  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  scatter  the 


331 

/ 

public  money  among  eighty  banks,  and  revive  again  the 
scenes  of  1836,  so  far  as  the  public  money,  diminished, 
to  be  sure,  greatly  in  amount — might  permit  or  require? 

It  was  injudicious — almost  insane.  But  this,  in  truth, 
would  not  be  the  real  result  of  the  repeal.  The  keeping 
of  the  money,  then,  though  nominally  by  the  law  of 
1836,  would,  in  fact  and  in  truth,  be  cast  on  the  unlimited 
discretion  of  the  treasury  department ;  for  the  law  having 
been  rendered  impracticable  by  the  change  of  times,  the 
department  must  necessarily  be  thrown  back  on  the  laws 
in  force  before  this  was  enacted.  Mr.  W.  would  under 
take  to  say  that  there  could  not  now  be  five  banks  found 
in  the  whole  United  Slates  such  as  that  act  required  de 
posit  banks  to  be ;  and  the  act  itself  declared  that  in 
such  case  the  treasury  must  revert  to  the  previous  laws, 
and  those  previous  laws  allowed  the  deposits  to  be  placed 
in  banks  which  did  not  pay  specie  ;  and  to  place  it  there, 
not  merely  on  special  but  on  general  deposit.  Nor  was 
this  any  thing  new.  This  very  thing  had  been  done  by 
Secretaries  Campbell  and  Dallas  for  years  together,  and 
it  must  be  done  again.  The  Pennsylvania  Bank  of  the 
United  States  could  be  selected  as  well  as  any  other,  if 
the  department  pleased. 

There  are  other  consequences  which  must  also  follow. 
The  secretary  would  not  merely  be  compelled  to  use 
banks  of  this  description,  but  he  would  be  stripped  of 
every  facility  in  the  business  of  his  department  until  he 
did  make  his  selection  among  the  banks,  and  place  the 
money  there.  He  invited  gentlemen  to  put  inquiries  to 
the  present  secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  see  what  an 
swers  they  would  get.  The  moment  this  bill  became  a 
law,  the  receivers-general,  as  such,  were  dead — the  secre 
tary  could  no  longer  draw  on  them.  Where  must  he  put 
his  money?  What  must  he  do  with  his  drafts?  In  New 
York  immense  sums  were  coming  into  deposit  at  the  rate 
of  ten  to  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  day.  The  secretary 
could  not  arrange  with  a  bank  to  receive  this  money  un 
der  less  than  a  week,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  collector 
or  the  receiver-general  might  have  half  a  million  of  dol 
lars  under  his  lock  and  key,  and  be  at  the  same  time  out 
of  office.  Who  would  be  liable  then  ?  Not  his  sureties 


33*2  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

for  the  new  funds  ;  their  liabilities  expired  with  his  office. 
In  the  more  distant  parts  of  the  country,  such  a  state 
of  things  might  exist  for  a  whole  month.  That  time  must 
elapse  before  the  receiver  knew  that  his  office  was  abo 
lished  ;  but  the  secretary  here  would  know  it,  and  could 
not  draw  upon  him.  What,  then,  must  be  the  result  ? 
In  one  portion  of  the  country  he  would  draw  on  collect 
ors  ;  in  another  portion  he  must  act  under  the  law  of 
1836 ;  and  in  still  another  he  must  be  left  at  his  discre 
tion,  under  a  construction  of  the  old  law.  Here  would 
be  three  or  four  fiscal  systems  in  operation  at  one  and  the 
same  time  ;  and  all  this  state  of  confusion  must  ensue 
because  gentlemen  would  insist  upon  repealing  one  plan 
before  they  had  provided  another. 

In  the  mean  time,  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  con 
tracts  for  building — with  the  new  vaults,  books,  and  fur 
niture?  Where  should  marshals  and  district  attorneys 
deposit  their  collections — often  immense?  How  should 
patentees  or  postmasters  get  along  ?  All  would  be  left 
in  chaos.  It  would  be  confusion  worse  confounded. 
Gentlemen  should  at  least  have  retained  the  mints  as  de 
positaries,  if  nothing  else,  till  they  got  new  agents.  They 
should  have  at  least  allowed  the  hardy  emigrant  from  the 
east  on  the  seaboard,  before  crossing  the  mountains,  to 
continue  to  pay  for  his  land,  if  he  pleased,  before  he 
started,  instead  of  carting  specie  across  the  Alleganies. 
What  is  done  with  the  clause  that  goes  to  prohibit  any 
new  specie  circular  ?  Abolished.  What  with  the  three 
clerks  in  the  treasury  department  created  under  this  act  ? 
Abolished.  But  no  more  of  details. 

Another  question  arose  as  to  what  money  the  treasurer 
should  receive.  It  was  contended  that  he  would  be  un 
der  the  act  of  1836.  If  so,  then  all  public  dues  must  be 
paid  in  gold  and  silver.  There  was  not  a  bank  in  New 
England  which  did  not  issue  or  pay  out  of  others  bills 
under  five  dollars,  and  the  act  of  1836  forbid  the  receipt 
of  any  notes  of  any  such  banks.  He  was  prohibited 
from  receiving  their  notes,  though  redeemable  in  specie, 
and  therefore,  instead  of  receiving  his  dues  one  half  in 
convertible  paper  and  one  half  in  specie,  as  in  the-  next 
month,  he  must  have  the  whole  amount  in  hard  money, 


333 

or  violate  his  oath.  Some  gentlemen,  indeed,  on  this 
side,  might  like  the  measure  on  this  account ;  but  would 
the  friends  of  this  bill  vote  for  it  in  this  view  of  its  effects  ? 

They  would  soon,  if  no  other  system  was  agreed  on, 
begin  to  reason  as  on  the  repeal,  that  the  people  had  ren 
dered  a  verdict  against  specie.  Over  three  fourths  of  the 
Union  now,  and  near  all  of  it  in  18f"? — the  practice  of  a 
majority  of  the  people  and  of  the  si  :  'eorLiatures,  it  will 
be  said,  were  against  specie  and  ^  'wie  circular.  The 
sound  sense  and  strong  moral  il  0  of  the  people,  in 
many  places,  have  been  deluded  and  persecuted  in  favor 
of  depreciated  paper.  It  is  not  merely  a  vitiated  taste, 
but  gambling  speculators  have  rnauci.iem  believe  it  is  for 
their  interest  to  have  a  new  paper  standard,  and  not  the 
gold  and  silver  Washington  and  his  compeers  sought  to 
introduce  and  perpetuate. 

Let  me  admonish,  then,  all  who  hear  me,  that  concern 
ing  the  currency  to  be  received  for  public  duties  in  the 
new  state  of  affairs,  and  as  to  any  supposed  verdict  of  the 
people  thereon,  if  Congress  adjourned  without  providing 
a  substitute  for  the  sub-treasury,  it  would  soon  be  argued 
and  found  that  the  joint  resolution  of  1816  was  not  impe 
rative.  Its  language  was  not,  that  paper  of  a  certain  de 
scription  should  be  taken,  but  that  it  ought  to  be  taken. 
Yes ;  it  ought.  But  supposing  the  secretary  could  not 
get  it  readily,  how  then  1  What  had  been  the  argument 
in  1837  on  that  point  ?  Shinplasters  were  then  current, 
and  what  had  been  called  the  ten  cent  rebellion  in  Boston 
had  been  gotten  up,  because  specie  was  demanded  by  the 
collector.  The  secretary  would  say  he  could  not  get 
convertible  notes,  and  the  verdict  of  the  people  was,  that 
in  that  case  he  must  take  depreciated  paper.  By  this 
state  of  things,  all  specie  and  specie-paying  banks  must 
go  by  the  board.  Discretion  was  said  to  be  the  law  of 
tyrants  ;  yet  now  the  treasury  was  to  be  let  loose  again, 
to  use,  at  pleasure,  the  paper  of  non-specie-paying  banks ; 
and  this  the  secretary,  it  would  be  argued,  could  not 
avoid,  if  he  respected  public  opinion. 

But  it  was  said  that  we  should  soon  have  a  substitute. 
Some  great  fiscal  agent  was  to  be  provided,  or  else  an  old- 
fashioned  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  W,  would  not 


384  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

argue  that  question ;  with  him  the  time  was  gone  by  ;  but 
he  would  ask  the  members  of  that  Senate  whether  they 
were  ready  to  repeal  the  existing  law,  to  re-establish  such 
an  institution  as  the  old  Bank  of  the  United  States  ?  If 
they  were,  very  well  ;  but  he  could  not  yet  tell  whether 
such  a  plan  had  been  matured  and  was  to  be  presented. 
Why  not  wait  till  then,  and  see  whether  a  majority  of  this 
body  will  take  an  institution  instead  of  a  sub-treasury, 
which  has  been  condemned  by  most  of  the  democratic 
fathers  of  the  constitution — which  the  present  President 
himself  concedes  has  been  condemned  by  the  people — 
which  has  been  condemned  by  experience  as  well  as  rea 
son — which  has  no  power  to  resist  suspensions  and  enor 
mous  losses,  and  which  a  few  years  ago,  after  becoming 
better  and  stronger  by  a  new  state  charter,  and  getting 
rid  of  a  bad  partner  in  the  general  government,  as  its 
chief  officer  declared,  has  since  blasted  the  livelihood  of 
thousands  of  widows  and  orphans,  and,  in  the  opinion  of 
many,  covered  the  whole  country  with  infamy  and  ruin? 
Do  gentlemen  wish  to  abolish  the  sub-treasury  for  such  a 
bank  ?  Do  they  wish  to  give  congressional  sanction  at 
home  and  abroad  to  such  enormities? 

Next :  do  the  west  and  south-west  want  the  still  lower 
prices,  and  ruinous  sacrifices  of  property,  caused  by  put 
ting  such  a  bank  in  operation  from  1817  to  1820  ?  Let 
gentlemen  read  the  history  of  that  era,  and  they  will 
pause.  They  are  seeking  the  wrong  remedy  for  the  ex 
isting  disease,  as  he  would  hereafter  attempt  to  show  on 
some  other  occasion.  It  was  said,  however,  that  we  were 
to  have  a  bank  that  would  not  be  unconstitutional ;  it  was 
to  be  free  from  all  objections  of  that  kind.  He  was  glad 
to  hear  it :  but  what  was  the  plan  ?  Had  not  gentlemen 
better  wait  till  they  saw  whether  it  did  avoid  all  constitu 
tional  difficulty  or  not?  Surely  they  would  act  thus  in 
their  own  affairs ;  why  not  in  the  affairs  of  the  public  1 
What  was  this  bank  to  be  ?  If  it  was  to  be  a  mere  fis 
cal  agent  not  incorporated,  then  it  was  a  government 
bank ;  and  he  said  to  gentlemen  that,  by  their  declara 
tions  and  opinions,  they  were  abolishing  just  such  a  bank, 
though  without  the  name.  All  they  had  to  do  was  to  call 
the  sub-treasury  a  fiscal  agent,  and  the  thing  would  be, 


MR.  WOODBURY'S  SPEECH. 

by  their  reasoning,  effected.  Was  this  any  thing  new  ? 
Had  not  gentlemen  contended  that  the  bill  of  1840  went 
to  create  a  treasury  bank  ?  Yet  they  were  now  for  de 
stroying  that,  only  to  make  another.  Here  Mr.  W.  quo 
ted  the  title  of  a  speech  by  Mr.  CLAY  in  1840,  which  he 
held  in  his  hand,  in  which  the  sub-treasury  was  denomi 
nated  a  government  bank,  of  which  the  President  of  the 
United  States  was  to  be  president,  cashier,  and  teller.  All 
they  had  to  do  was  to  give  the  secretary  power  to  issue 
small  drafts,  and  the  sub-treasury  would  be  a  government 
bank,  according  to  the  reasoning  of  this  speech. 

Mr.  CLAY  here  interposed  to  inquire  of  Mr.  W.  whe 
ther  he  rightly  understood  him  as  now  admitting  that  the 
sub-treasury  was  a  bank. 

Mr.  WOODBURY  replied  in  the  negative.  Your 
speech  had  represented  it  as  a  bank  only  under  the  sup 
position  that  the  secretary  could  cut  up  his  drafts  into 
small  sums,  and  use  them  as  bank  notes. 

Mr.  CLAY.     Well,  and  could  he  not  do  it  ? 

Mr.  WOODBURY.  He  did  not  do  it.  I  admit  that 
the  argument  itself  is  a  fair  one,  but  he  did  not  do  it,  nor 
could  it  have  been  done  without  sanction  of  law  ;  nor 
was  it  ever  intended  to  be  done,  uuless  required  by  Con 
gress  to  do  it. 

It  would  then  be  only  a  bank  of  circulation,  but  riot 
one  of  deposit  for  individuals,  nor  one  of  discount  at  all; 
which  last  kind  of  bank  was  made,  and  especially  a  na 
tional  one,  so  open  to  politic  favoritism  and  corruption. 

I  will  not,  on  this  occasion,  detain  the  Senate  longer, 
and  did  not  intend  at  this  time  to  say  half  so  much. 


336  THE  TRUE   AMERICAN. 

DUTIES   OP   AMERICAN   CITIZENS 

BY    HON.    LEVI    WOODBURY. 

[AN    EXTRACT.] 

WHILE  meditating  upon  our  own  astonishing  progress, 
as  developed  in  history,  and  discriminating  with  care  the 
origin  alike  of  our  perils  and  securities  as  a  people,  does 
it  not  behove  us  to  weigh  well  the  importance  of  our  pre 
sent  position  ?  Not  our  position  merely  with  regard  to 
foreign  powers.  From  them  we  have,  by  an  early  start 
and  rapid  progress  in  the  cause  of  equal  rights,  long 
ceased  to  fear  much  injury,  or  to  hope  for  very  essential 
aid,  in  our  further  efforts  for  the  thorough  improvement 
of  the  condition  of  society  in  all  that  is  useful  or  com 
mendable.  Nor  our  position,  however  the  true  causes 
may  be  distorted  or  denied — our  elevated  position,  in 
prosperity  and  honorable  estimation,  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  But  it  is  our  position,  so  highly  responsible,  as 
the  only  country  where  the  growth  of  self-government 
seems  fully  to  have  ripened  arid  to  have  become  a  model 
or  example  to  other  nation^ ;  or,  as  the  case  may  prove, 
their  scoff  and  scorn. 

To  falter  here,  and  now,  would,  therefore,  probably  be 
to  cause  the  experiment  of  such  a  government  to  fail  for 
ever.  It  is  not  sufficient,  in  this  position,  to  loathe  servi 
tude,  or  to  love  liberty  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  Plu 
tarch's  heroes.  But  we  must  be  warned  by  our  history 
how  to  maintain  liberty ;  how  to  grasp  the  substance  ra 
ther  than  the  shadow ;  to  disregard  rhetorical  flourishes, 
unless  accompanied  by  deeds ;  not  to  be  cajoled  by  holi 
day  finery,  or  pledges  enough  to  carpet  the  polls,  where 
integrity  and  burning  zeal  do  not  exist  to  redeem  them ; 
nor  to  permit  ill-vaunting  ambition  to  volunteer  and  vaunt 
its  professions  of  ability  as  well  as  willingness  to  serve 
the  people  against  their  own  government — any  more  than 
demagogues,  in  a  rougher  mood,  with  a  view  to  rob  you, 
sacrilegiously,  of  those  principles,  or  undermine,  with 
insidious  pretensions,  those  equal  institutions  which  your 


DUTIES    OP    AMERICAN    CITIZENS.  337 

fathers  bled  to  secure.  Nor  does  true  reform,  however 
frequent  in  this  position,  and  under  those  institutions, 
scarcely  ever  consist  in  violence,  or  what  usually  amounts 
to  revolution,  the  sacred  right  of  which,  by  force  or  re 
bellion,  in  extreme  cases  of  oppression,  being  seldom 
necessary  to  be  exercised  here,  because  reform  is  one  of 
the  original  elements  of  those  institutions,  arid  one  of 
their  great,  peaceable,  and  prescribed  objects.  However 
the  timid,  then,  may  fear,  or  the  wealthy  denounce  its 
progress,  it  is  the  principal  safety-valve  of  our  system, 
rather  than  an  explosion  to  endanger  or  destroy  it.  We 
should  also  weigh  well  our  delicate  position  as  the  sole 
country  whither  the  discontented  in  all  others  resort 
freely,  and,  while  conforming  to  the  laws,  abide  securely; 
and  whither  the  tide  of  emigration,  whether  for  good  or 
evil,  seems  each  year  setting  with  increased  force. 

When  we  reflect  on  these  circumstances,  with  several 
others,  which  leisure  does  not  permit  me  to  enumerate ; 
and  when  we  advert  to  some  of  the  occurrences  in  our 
social  and  political  condition,  within  the  few  last  years, 
appearing  worse,  it  is  feared,  than  the  slight  irregularities 
and  outbreaks  of  great  freedom,  on  such  periodical  ex 
citements  as  elections;  and  looking  rather,  in  some  cases, 
like  more  grave  departures  from  legal  subordination,  and 
attended,  as  they  have  been,  on  different  occasions,  and 
in  different  quarters,  by  no  feeble  indications  of  obliquity 
of  principle,  in  morals  as  well  as  politics,  evinced  by  vio 
lent  aggressions,  not  only  on  person  and  property,  but  the 
rights  of  conscience  and  of  free  discussion — while  we 
see  all  this,  what  does  our  delicate  and  peculiar  position 
teach,  as  to  the  perils  of  American  liberty  ?  What  warn 
ing  spirit  breathes  from  those  events?  What  inferences 
should  philosophy  and  our  sober  judgments  draw  from 
their  history? 

Is  it  not  manifest  that  the  danger  now  to  be  guarded 
against  is  one  arising  rather  from  too  little  than  too  much 
control  on  the  part  of  the  government ;  too  little  rather 
than  too  much  reverence  for  the  constitution,  the  supre 
macy  of  the  laws,  and  the  sacredness  of  personal  rights; 
as  well  as  those  of  property  ;  and  if  not  an  undue  homage 
to  mere  wealth  still  too  great  presumptuousness  from  the 
VOL.  ii.  29 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

enjoyment  of  such  unexampled  prosperity?  Looking 
higher  and  deeper,  is  there  not  seen,  also,  too  much  indif 
ference  beginning  to  be  entertained  in  some  quarters, 
with  regard  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union? — that  politi 
cal  marriage  of  the  states,  upon  which,  like  that  of  our 
first  parents,  "  all  heaven  and  happy  constellations  shed 
their  selectest  influence."  Does  there  not  exist  too  great 
an  apathy  respecting  our  imperative  and  lofty  duty  not  to 
disappoint,  in  any  way,  the  aspirations  and  the  confidence 
of  the  patriot  or  the  philanthropist,  in  every  country  di 
rected  towards  us  for  the  conservation  of  all  the  best 
hopes  of  the  human  race?  Suspecting,  then,  some  such 
evil  tendencies — feeling  such  doubts,  and  fearing  such 
dangers,  what  do  our  annals  point  out  as  the  true  repub 
lican  remedy  to  check  them  ?  Not,  we  trust,  a  revival — 
in  substance  any  more  than  in  form — of  the  stronger  arm 
of  monarchical  power  which  preceded  the  Revolution. 
By  no  means.  Not,  in  any  crisis,  rushing  for  preserva 
tion  from  outrage  or  for  rescue  from  anarchy  and  licen 
tiousness  to  stronger  systems  of  government — to  what,  it 
is  hoped,  we  all  deprecate  and  dread  in  unnecessary  re 
straints  on  individual  liberty  and  more  arbitrary  establish 
ments,  under  the  pretence  of  aids,  though  in  reality  often 
the  most  dangerous  weapons  wielded  by  the  arm  of  civil 
power.  Never,  never.  Nor  yet  a  change  in  our  codes 
of  law,  harshly  increasing  their  severity,  conferring  un 
equal  privileges  or  perpetuating  exclusive  powers,  at  the 
expense  of  the  birth-right  and  liberties  of  others.  Nor 
an  elevation  of  property  and  its  possessors  to  greater  do 
minion  over  the  rights  of  persons,  when  its  strides  have 
already  been  so  colossal,  and  its  influence  so  over 
whelming. 

Neither  ought  we  to  indulge  in  despondency,  however 
apprehensive,  with  the  great  blind  bard  of  modern  times, 
that,  in  some  respects,  we  "  have  fallen  on  evil  days  and 
evil  tongues ;"  and  however  conscious  that,  as  a  people, 
we  are  not  entirely  free  from  foibles,  errors,  and  crime, 
in  this  erring  world,  and  have  not  been  able  to  reach 
every  excellence  as  a  nation,  or  to  mature  every  political 
security  of  which  our  constitutions  are  susceptible,  in 
the  brief  period  of  about  half  a  century. 


DUTIES    OF    AMERICAN    CITIZENS.  339 

On  the  contrary,  it  behoves  us  to  look  our  perils  and 
difficulties,  such  as  they  are,  in  the  face.  Then,  with 
the  exercise  of  candor,  calmness,  and  fortitude,  being 
able  to  comprehend  fnlly  their  character  and  extent,  let 
us  profit  by  the  teachings  of-  almost  every  page  in  our 
annals,  that  any  defects  under  our  existing  system  have 
resulted  more  from  the  manner  of  administering  it  than 
from  its  substance  or  form.  We  less  need  new  laws,  new 
institutions,  or  new  powers,  than  we  need,  on  all  occa 
sions,  at  all  times,  arid  in  all  places,  the  requisite  intelli 
gence  concerning  the  true  spirit  of  our  present  ones ; 
the  high  moral  courage,  under  every  hazard,  and  against 
every  offender,  to  execute  with  fidelity  the  authority  al 
ready  possessed ;  and  the  manly  independence  to  aban 
don  all  supineness,  irresolution,  vacillation,  and  time 
serving  pusillanimity,  and  enforce  our  present  mild  sys 
tem  with  that  uniformity  and  steady  vigor  throughout, 
which  alone  can  supply  the  place  of  the  greater  severity 
of  less  free  institutions.  To  arm  and  encourage  us  in 
renewed  efforts  to  accomplish  every  thing  on  this  subject 
which  is  desirable,  our  history  constantly  points  her  finger 
to  a  most  efficient  resource,  and  indeed  to  the  only  elixir, 
to  secure  a  long  life  to  any  popular  government,  in  in 
creased  attention  to  useful  education  and  sound  morals, 
with  the  wise  description  of  equal  measures  and  just 
practices  they  inculcate  on  every  leaf  of  recorded  time. 
Before  their  alliance  the  spirit  of  misrule  will  always  in 
time  stand  rebuked,  and  those  who  worship  at  the  shrine 
of  unhallowed  ambition  must  quail.  Storms  in  the  politi 
cal  atmosphere  may  occasionally  happen  by  the  encroach 
ments  of  usurpers,  the  corruption  or  intrigues  of  dema 
gogues,  or  in  the  expiring  agonies  of  faction,  or  by  the 
sudden  fury  of  popular  frenzy;  but  with  the  restraints 
and  salutary  influences  of  the  allies  before  described, 
these  storms  will  purify  as  healthfully  as  they  often  do  in 
the  physical  world,  and  cause  the  tree  of  liberty,  instead 
of  falling,  to  strike  its  roots  deeper.  In  this  struggle,  the 
enlightened  and  moral  possess  also  a  power,  auxiliary  and 
strong,  in  the  spirit  of  the  age,  which  is  not  only  with 
them,  but  onward,  in  every  thing  to  ameliorate  or  im 
prove.  When  the  struggle  assumes  the  form  of  a  con- 


340  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

test  with  power  in  all  its  subtlety,  or  with  undermining  and 
corrupting  wealth,  as  it  sometimes  may,  rather  than  with 
turbulence,  sedition,  or  open  aggression,  by  the  needy 
and  desperate,  it  will  be  indispensable  to  employ  still 
greater  vigilance;  to  cherish  earnestness  of  purpose, 
resoluteness  in  conduct;  to  apply  hard  and  constant 
blows  to  real  abuses  rather  milk-and-water  remedies,  and 
encourage  not  only  bold,  free,  and  original  thinking,  but 
determined  action.  In  such  a  cause  our  fathers  were 
men  whose  hearts  were  not  accustomed  to  fail  them 
through  fear,  however  formidable  the  obstacles.  Some 
of  them  were  companions  of  Cromwell,  and  embued 
deeply  with  his  spirit  and  iron-decision  of  character,  in 
whatever  they  deemed  right :  "  If  Pope,  and  Spaniard, 
and  devil,  (said  he,)  all  set  themselves  against  us,  though 
they  should  compass  about  as  bees,  as  it  is  in  the  18th 
Psalm,  yet  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  we  will  destroy  them." 
We  are  not,  it  is  trusted,  such  degenerate  descendants  as 
to  prove  recreant,  and  fail  to  defend,  with  gallantry  and 
firmness  as  unflinching,  all  which  we  have  either  derived 
from  them,  or  since  added  to  the  rich  inheritance. 

New  means  and  energies  can  yearly  be  brought  to 
bear  on  the  further  enlightening  of  the  public  mind. 
Self-interest,  respectability  in  society,  official  rank,  wealth, 
superior  enjoyment,  are  all  held  out  as  the  rewards  of 
increased  intelligence  and  good  conduct.  The  untaught 
in  letters,  as  well  as  the  poor  in  estate,  cannot  long  close 
their  eyes  or  their  judgments  to  those  great  truths  of  daily 
occurrence  in  our  history.  They  cannot  but  feel  that 
the  laws,  when  duly  executed,  insure  these  desirable  ends 
in  a  manner  even  more  striking  to  themselves  and  chil 
dren,  drudges  and  serfs  as  they  may  once  have  been,  than 
to  the  learned,  wealthy,  or  great.  They  see  the  humblest 
log-cabin  rendered  as  secure  a  castle  as  the  palace,  and 
the  laborer  in  the  lowest  walks  of  life  as  quickly  entitled 
to  the  benefit  of  a  habeas  corpus  when  imprisoned  with 
out  warrant  of  law,  as  the  highest  in  power,  and  assured 
of  as  full  and  ready  redress  for  personal  violence,  and  of 
indemnity  as  ample  for  injury  to  character  or  damage  to 
property.  Not  a  particle  of  his  estate,  though  but  a 
single  ewe-lamb  in  the  western  wilderness,  or  the  most 


DUTIES    OF    AMERICAN    CITIZENS.  341 

sterile  acre  on  the  White  Mountains,  can  be  taken  away 
with  impunity,  though  by  the  most  powerful,  without  the 
voluntary  consent  of  the  indigent  owner,  nor  even  be  set 
apart  for  public  purposes,  without  the  same  necessities 
and  the  same  just  compensation  awarded  as  in  case  of 
the  greatest. 

To  any  man  thus  situated,  any  thing  agrarian  about 
property  would  be  as  ruinous,  looking  to  the  prosperity 
of  himself  and  to  his  family  in  future,  as  it  would  be  to 
the  wealthy  now.  Political  and  civil  rights  being  made 
equal,  it  becomes  much  better,  no  less  for  the  poor  but 
well-informed  and  enterprising,  than  for  the  cause  of 
society  and  virtue  at  large,  as  well  as  the  present  safety 
of  the  rich,  that  the  future  acquisitions  of  property,  power, 
and  honor,  should  all  generally  be  rendered  proportionate 
to  the  future  industry,  good  conduct,  and  improved  ta 
lents  of  every  individual. 

Thus  labor  and  capital  here  are  made  to  have  but  one 
true  interest,  and  to  find  that  "  self-love  and  social  are 
the  same." 

The  scourges  of  avarice,  in  its  too  great  voracity  for 
wealth  or  capital,  will  always  be  the  irregular  depreda 
tions  on  it  of  labor,  if  left  badly  paid  or  badly  taught, 
and  the  true  blessings  of  labor  will  be  its  honest  and 
timely  acquisitions  of  capital,  if  made  able  to  learn  and 
practise  its  appropriate  duties  as  well  as  rights.  Then, 
though  steadfast  and  zealous  in  resisting  the  seductions 
of  power,  the  timidities  of  sloth,  the  effeminacy  of  luxury, 
and  the  mercenary,  sordid  spirit  of  mere  gain,  the  work 
ing  classes  will,  at  the  same  time,  be  careful  to  shape  and 
crowd  forward  all  their  claims  in  subjection  to  order,  and 
in  the  safe  channels  of  law  and  well-regulated  liberty. 

It  would  hardly  be  necessary  to  advance  any  further 
arguments  deduced  from  our  history  in  proof  of  the  pecu 
liar  importance,  or  indeed  vitality,  of  sound  morals,  as 
well  as  sound  education,  in  such  a  government  as  ours, 
at  all  times,  and  more  especially  in  periods  of  increased 
peril.  They,  indeed,  always  constitute  a  power  higher 
than  the  law  itself,  and  possess  a  healthy  vigor  much  be-» 
yond  the  law.  Nor,  under  our  admirable  system,  does 
the  promotion  of  morality  require  any,  as  mere  citizen^ 
VOL.  u.  29* 


342  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN 

to  aid  it,  through  political  favor,  to  the  cause  of  any  par 
ticular  creed  of  religion,  however  deep  may  be  our  indi 
vidual  convictions  of  its  truth  or  importance  beyond  all 
the  world  can  give  or  the  world  take  away.  Our  public 
associations  for  purposes  of  government  now  wisely  relate 
to  secular  concerns  alone. 

Surely,  any  of  us  can  be  the  worthy  descendants  of 
the  Puritans  without  being,  after  the  increased  lights  of 
two  hundred  more  years,  puritanical,  in  the  indulgence 
of  bigotry,  or  in  placing  any  reliance  on  the  dangerous 
and  it  is  hoped  exploded  union  of  church  and  state  for 
public  security. 

On  the  contrary,  the  progress  of  temperance,  the  im 
provement  in  household  comforts,  the  wider  diffusion  of 
knowledge  as  well  as  of  competency  in  property,  and  the 
association,  so  intimate  and  radical,  between  enlarged 
intelligence  and  the  growth  of  moral  worth  and  even  re 
ligious  principle,  with  the  advantages  all  mutually  confer 
and  receive,  constitute  our  safest  dependence,  and  exhibit 
a  characteristic,  striking,  and  highly  creditable  to  our 
whole  country,  as  well  as  in  some  degree  to  the  present 
age.  If,  constantly  reinforced  by  those  exertions  of  the 
enlightened,  the  virtuous,  and  the  talented,  which  they 
can  well  spare,  and  which  duty,  honor  and  safety  demand, 
they  seem  to  encourage  strong  hopes  that  the  arm  of  the 
law  will  not  hereafter  be  so  often  palsied  by  any  moral 
indifference  among  the  people  at  large,  or  in  any  quarter, 
as  to  its  strength  to  guide  as  well  as  hold  the  helm. 

At  such  a  crisis,  therefore,  and  in  such  a  cause,  yield 
ing  to  neither  consternation  nor  despair,  may  we  not  all 
profit  by  the  vehement  exhortations  of  Cicero  to  Atticus  : 
"  If  you  are  asleep,  awake;  if  you  are  standing,  move; 
if  you  are  moving,  run  ;  if  you  are  running,  fly." 

All  these  considerations  warn  us — the  grave-stones  of 
almost  every  former  republic  warn  us — that  a  high  stan 
dard  of  moral  rectitude,  as  well  as  of  intelligence,  is 
quite  as  indispensable  to  communities  in  their  public  do 
ings  as  to  individuals,  if  they  would  escape  from  either 
degeneracy  or  disgrace. 

There  need  be  no  morbid  delicacy  in  employing  on 
this  subject  a  tone  at  once  plain  and  fearless.  Much  of 


oov.  MORTON'S  INACGURAL  SPEECH.  343 

our  own  history  unites  in  admonishing  all,  that  those 
public  doings  should  be  characterized,  when  towards  the 
members  of  the  same  confederacy,  not  by  exasperations 
or  taunts,  but  by  mutual  concessions,  in  cases  of  con 
flicting  claims — by  amicable  compromises  where  no  tri 
bunal  is  provided  for  equal  arbitration — by  exact  justice 
to  the  smallest  as  well  as  to  the  largest  state ;  and,  through 
all  irritations  and  rebuffs,  the  more  bitter  often  because 
partaking  of  the  freedom  of  their  family  origin,  by  an 
inflexible  adherence  to  that  spirit  of  conciliation,  and  to 
that  cultivation  of  harmony,  through  mutual  affection 
and  mutual  benefits  rather  than  force,  which,  honorable, 
if  not  always  honored,  formed  and  has  hitherto  sustained 
our  happy  Union. 


INAUGURAL  SPEECH    OF  GOV.  MORTON, 

OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 
JANUARY  22,  1840. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate, 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 
In  obedience  to  the  declared  will  of  the  people  of  this 
commonwealth,  I  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  office  of 
their  "  supreme  executive  magistrate."  And  I  seize 
the  earliest  opportunity  to  express  the  Teelings  of  grati 
tude,  with  which  their  unsought  suffrages  have  filled  my 
breast.  But  I  should  do  them,  as  well  as  my  distin 
guished  predecessor  injustice,  did  I  impute  their  choice 
to  personal  preference.  Their  purpose  was  higher  and 
holier.  It  was  the  better  establishment  and  the  more 
perfect  development  of  a  great  principle  of  civil  polity — 
a  principle  founded  in  humanity,  guided  by  benevolence, 
and  looking  to  the  ever  progressive  improvement  and 
happiness  of  the  whole  human  family — the  democratic 
principle,  which  ever  seeks  to  protect  the  weak,  to  ele- 


844  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

vate  the  depressed,  and  to  secure  the  just  and  equal 
rights  of  all — a  principle,  which  is  in  harmony  with  pure 
religion,  that  establishes  the  love  of  God  as  the  first  law 
of  morality — a  principle,  which,  by  listening  to  the  voice 
of  reason  as  it  breathes  through  the  people,  bows  reve 
rently  before  the  dictates  of  justice,  while  it  spurns  at 
the  despotism  of  man — a  principle,  which  gives  the 
highest  security  to  property,  by  giving  security  also  to 
labor,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  its  own  industry — 
a  principle,  which  is  free  from  envy  and  narrow  jealousy, 
and  cheerfully  acknowledges  the  benefits  of  cultivated 
intelligence  and  of  experience,  while  it  respects,  as  the 
paramount  fountain  of  freedom  and  order,  the  collective 
will  that  includes  all  the  intelligence  of  the  community, — 
the  will  of  the  people. 

That  so  many  of  my  fellow-citizens  have,  for  so  long  a 
time,  thought  me  worthy  to  be,  in  their  judgment,  the 
representative  of  such  a  principle,  excites  the  deepest 
sensibility  of  my  heart.  If  I  may  be  able  in  any  degree 
to  carry  it  into  practical  operation,  by  reforming  any 
abuses  which  may  have  crept  into  our  system,  or  by 
guarding  against  the  partial  or  inequitable  action  of  any 
department  of  the  government,  I  trust  that  I  shall  riot 
wholly  disappoint  their  reasonable  expectations.  Fidelity 
to  the  principle,  and  the  devotion  of  my  best  powers  to 
its  full  and  fair  execution,  I  freely  pledge.  In  fulfilling 
this  pledge  with  firmness  and  moderation,  I  shall  always 
endeavor  duly  to  regard  the  wishes,  opinions,  and  rights 
of  all. 

We  should  not  assume  the  high  responsibilities  of  our 
respective  stations,  without  a  grateful  and  reverential  ac 
knowledgment  of  the  unmerited  mercy  and  bounty  of 
that  Providence  which  has  vouchsafed  to  the  people  of 
our  commonwealth  an  unusual  degree  of  health  and  pros 
perity,  and  to  the  whole  of  our  country  a  great  abundance 
of  the  productions  of  nature  and  art.  Never  before  did 
the  earth,  throughout  our  widely  extended  borders,  in  all 
its  various  products,  yield  so  much  for  the  use  and  suste 
nance  of  man.  And  if  portions  of  our  fellow-citizens  are 
suffering  from  pecuniary  embarrassments,  or  a  derange 
ment  of  the  usual  channels  of  business,  it  is  not  imputable 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  345 

to  any  diminution  of  the  exuberant  resources  of  our 
country,  nor  to  any  radical  defects  in  the  structure  of 
our  government ;  but  to  the  unjust  and  unequal  action 
of  our  systems  of  currency ;  to  that  wild  and  reckless 
spirit  of  speculation  which  discourages  honest  industry 
and  impoverishes  many,  while  it  enriches  very  few ;  and 
to  those  habits  of  individual  extravagance,  which  waste- 
fully  consume  the  common  stock,  while  they  produce 
private  profligacy  and  wretchedness.  The  benignant  ac 
tion  of  the  laws  of  nature  should  teach  us  our  depend 
ence  upon  their  Author ;  and  the  short-sighted  and  self- 
destructive  devices  of  man  should  lead  us  to  distrust  our 
own  powers,  and  to  seek  direction  from  the  only  true 
source  of  wisdom. 

There  is  no  branch  of  sovereign  power  more  impor 
tant,  or  more  difficult  to  be  exercised,  than  the  regula 
tion  of  the  currency.  It  extends  to  all  the  relations  of 
life,  and  reaches  the  personal  interest  of  every  man  in 
the  community.  The  great  and  leading  object  of  govern 
ment  ever  should  be,  to  establish  and  maintain  a  uniform 
and  unchangeable  measure  of  value.  Every  change  in 
the  common  standard  of  value,  whether  it  be  caused  by 
acts  of  the  government,  or  of  individuals,  creates  injus 
tice.  It  affects  inequitably  all  the  relations  of  society, 
and  infringes  private  rights.  Every  contract  should  be 
considered  inviolable.  Its  obligation  was  deemed  worthy 
of  the  special  guaranty  of  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States.  And  yet  every  change  in  the  currency,  by  in 
creasing  or  diminishing  circulation,  essentially  varies  the 
obligation  of  contracts,  and  unrighteously  affects  the 
relation  of  debtor  and  creditor.  An  inflation  of  the  cur 
rency  diminishes  the  value  of  the  circulating  medium, 
enhances  prices,  and  thus  enables  the  debtor  to  discharge 
his  debts  with  less  intrinsic  value  than  he  contracted  to 
pay.  So  a  contraction  produces  an  opposite  effect,  and 
enables  a  creditor  to  collect,  for  his  debts,  a  greater  value 
than  he  agreed  to  receive.  These  two  conflicting  inte 
rests  would  seem  to  balance  and  to  neutralize  each  other. 
But  in  their  influence  upon  society,  such  is  not  the  fact. 
Debtors,  especially  those  deeply  involved,  are  stimulated 
to  make  strong  efforts  to  inflate  the  currency,  that  they 


346  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

may  have  the  benefit  of  enhanced  prices,  and  extinguish 
their  obligations  with  the  least  possible  value;  while 
creditors  and  capitalists,  often,  deluded  by  the  apparent 
increase  of  their  wealth,  support  measures  which,  though 
they  diminish  the  intrinsic  value,  yet  swell  the  nominal 
amount  of  their  property. 

Fluctuations  in  the  currency  excite  a  thirst  for  specu 
lation,  and  furnish  the  means  of  its  gratification.  They 
stimulate  an  inordinate  desire  for  the  sudden  acquisition 
of  riches,  and  by  a  few  instances  of  success,  divert  many 
from  the  pursuits  of  honest  industry.  They  produce 
habits  of  reckless  extravagance  and  wasteful  profligacy. 
And  what  is  most  of  all  to  be  regretted,  the  consequent 
depreciations  and  losses  fall  principally  upon  those  who 
did  not  contribute  to  create  them,  and  who,  by  the  very 
nature  of  their  useful  occupations,  are  deprived  of  the 
power  of  guarding  against  their  injurious  and  unjust 
effects. 

It  should,  therefore,  be  the  high  aim  and  the  unceasing 
effort  of  government  to  protect  its  members  from  such 
calamities.  The  difficulty  of  the  duty  has  been  felt  in 
all  civilized  society,  and  under  every  form  of  govern 
ment.  But  the  nature  of  our  complicated  system  adds 
new  obstacles  to  its  successful  accomplishment.  Twenty- 
six  sovereignties,  acting  independently  of  each  other, 
under  very  little  restraint  from  the  common  govern 
ment,  and  influenced  by  different  interests  and  circum 
stances,  can  hardly  be  expected,  in  creating  and  main 
taining  a  currency  which  to  some  extent  should  be  com 
mon  to  all,  to  act  with  unity  of  purpose  and  harmony  of 
measures.  Even  some  degree  of  emulation  to  increase 
the  circulation,  which  it  should  be  the  duty  of  each  to 
restrain  within  reasonable  limits,  will  naturally  if  not 
necessarily  arise. 

These  complicated  difficulties  were  understood  and 
fully  appreciated  by  the  patriotic  statesmen  who  formed 
our  federal  constitution.  Their  minds  had  been  awa 
kened  to  the  momentous  importance  of  the  subject  by  the 
distress  and  embarrassment  in  which  a  fluctuating  and 
depreciating  paper  currency  had  involved  both  govern 
ment  and  people.  And,  when,  in  an  organic  law  of  the 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  347 

body  politic,  they  had  empowered  the  general  govern 
ment  "  to  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof  and  of 
foreign  coins,"  and  had  forbid  any  state  "  to  coin  money, 
emit  bills  of  credit,  or  make  any  thing  but  gold  and  sil 
ver  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts,"  they  supposed  that 
they  had  invested  the  former  with  all  the  authority  neces 
sary  to  the  proper  administration  of  this  branch  of  sove 
reign  power ;  and  had  imposed  upon  the  states  all  the 
restraints  compatible  with  their  sovereign  and  indepen 
dent  characters,  and  all  that  would  be  needed  to  secure 
the  people  against  a  recurrence  of  those  abuses  and  evils 
from  which  they  had  suffered  so  much.  But  it  is  very 
manifest,  that  in  the  practical  construction  and  operation 
of  these  provisions,  all  the  benefits  which  were  expected 
from  them  have  not  been  realized.  Although  the  several 
states  are  prohibited  from  emitting  "  bills  of  credit,"  yet 
practically  they  have  the  power  of  incurring  debts  and 
of  issuing  evidences  of  them,  which  answer  some  of  the 
purposes  of  a  circulating  medium,  and  of  establishing 
banks  with  authority  to  issue  bank  notes,  which  consti 
tute  a  large  portion  of  our  currency. 

These  powers  possessed  by  the  several  state  sovereign 
ties  require,  in  their  exercise,  forbearance,  caution,  mode 
ration,  and  patriotism.  Although  a  system  of  credit  is  in 
dispensable  in  every  civilized  community,  and  especially 
among  a  mercantile  and  enterprising  people,  yet  its  utility 
depends  upon  its  proper  regulation  and  restriction.  And 
while  government  should  preserve  its  purity,  by  denning 
individual  liabilities  and  contracts,  and  securing  their 
prompt  and  faithful  fulfilment,  it  should  leave  the  system 
itself  to  private  responsibility  and  enterprise.  Any  direct 
interference,  by  the  government,  in  ordinary  business 
transactions,  either  by  participating  in  the  profits,  or  by 
granting  to  individuals  immunities  or  privileges,  is  an 
interruption  of  that  free  and  equal  competition  which 
should  be  open  to  every  individual,  and  a  departure  from 
that  even-handed  justice,  which,  like  the  blessings  of 
heaven,  should  descend  alike  upon  all.  In  a  country 
like  ours,  where  a  spirit  of  daring  adventure  carries  our 
people  beyond  their  means,  and  stimulates  them  to  stretch 
credit  to  its  utmost  tension,  a  system  of  restriction  and 


348  THE   TRUE   AMERICAN. 

moderation,  rather  than  encouragement  and  stimulation, 
should  be  recommended. 

The  experience  of  all  ages  and  nations  shows,  that  no 
circulating  medium  can  be  established  and  maintained  at 
a  uniform  rate,  unless  it  possess  intrinsic  value.  Any 
other  will  inevitably  depreciate.  Neither  the  firm  resolves 
of  patriotic  communities,  nor  the  legislative  enactments 
of  free  republics,  nor  the  imperative  edicts  of  .despotic 
power,  can  sustain  any  other  standard  of  value.  The 
laws  of  trade  can  no  more  be  controlled  than  the  laws 
of  nature. 

It  is  the  worst  feature  of  unequal  legislation,  that  while 
it  creates  separate  interests,  eager  for  its  preservation 
and  defence,  it  so  infuses  itself  into  the  affairs  of  the 
community,  that  reform  itself  becomes  painful,  and  a 
sudden  change  of  policy  proves  disastrous,  even  to  those 
whose  wrongs  it  would  redress.  If  a  simple  repeal  of  a 
bad  law  were  sufficient  to  rjeal  the  evils  that  may  have 
sprung  from  it,  the  work  of  legislation  would  be  easy 
and  agreeable.  But  experience,  which  has  awakened 
public  attention  to  the  vices  of  our  financial  system,  is 
obliged  also  to  recognize  its  existence.  Under  the  ope 
ration  of  this  system,  and  notwithstanding  its  evils,  we 
have  grown  in  wealth,  and  have  enjoyed  an  extraordinary 
degree  of  prosperity.  The  system  has  become  incorpo 
rated  into  our  code,  affects  all  private  contracts,  and  has 
an  influence  on  all  the  business  of  life.  Its  sudden  abo 
lition  would  produce  incalculable  mischief,  and  greater 
injustice  and  suffering  than  that  for  which  a  remedy  is 
sought.  Besides,  in  the  recent  loss  of  credit,  submitted 
to  by  many  of  the  banks  in  the  Union,  the  banks  of 
Massachusetts  have  remained  true  to  their  engagements. 
I  therefore  recommend  no  precipitate  action  ;  I  would 
counsel  no  rash  change.  For  any  fundamental  action 
on  this  subject  I  would  even  advise  delay,  till  the  mea 
sures  of  the  general  government  with  regard  to  the  col 
lection  and  disbursement  of  the  national  revenue,  shall 
be  definitely  settled.  In  return,  I  would  call  upon  you 
all,  by  the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  deep,  long- 
tinuing,  and  increasing  disasters  that  must  follow  a  mis 
taken  course,  to  join  in  preparing  a  wholesome  reform, 


GOT.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  349 

and  in  erecting  stronger  barriers  against  impending  evils ; 
if,  indeed,  the  banks  which  exist  by  grants  from  the  legis 
lature  have  not  already  grown  too  powerful  to  be  con 
trolled. 

If  we  carefully  analyze  the  distresses  which  have  per 
vaded  our  financial  world,  and  search  in  our  banking  sys 
tem  for  the  radical  infirmities  from  which  they  have 
sprung,  I  believe  they  may  nearly  all  be  traced  to  two  es 
sential  vices.  The  first  is  its  character  of  monopoly  ;  the 
second  is  its  too  wide  expansion  and  departure  from  the 
specie  basis,  leaving  not  sufficient  specie  in  circulation 
for  the  security  of  a  uniform  currency. 

A  bank  charter  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  monopoly. 
It  confers  powers  and  rights  valuable  to  the  corporators, 
and  important  to  the  public,  from  the  enjoyment  of  which 
others  are  excluded.  The  authority  to  issue  paper  pro 
mises  for  circulation,  and  to  transact  other  business,  "  on 
banking  principles,"  is  one  of  the  "  particular  and  exclu 
sive  privileges,  distinct  from  those  of  the  community," 
which  is  an  essential  element  of  monopoly.  Were  these 
powers  and  privileges  conferred  only  upon  one  individual 
or  corporation,  the  exclusive  nature  of  the  grant  would, 
at  once,  show  its  unreasonableness  and  injustice.  The 
multiplication  of  charters  and  the  compensation  received 
for  them,  may  diminish  their  character  of  exclusiveness, 
but  will  not  change  the  nature  of  the  grant.  And  while 
they  may  mitigate  some  of  the  evils,  they  will  increase 
the  strength  and  danger  of  others. 

A  monopoly  is,  in  the  first  place,  an  injustice  ;  it  is 
counter  to  the  democratic  principle,  which  can  alone  give 
vitality  to  our  institutions.  A  monopoly  cannot  rest  on 
the  doctrine  of  equality.  It  must,  however,  be  conceded 
that  the  profusion  with  which  bank  charters  have  been 
lavished,  has,  at  least,  taken  from  them  any  special  value, 
nor  is  it  believed  that  the  regulation  of  the  banking  sys 
tem  by  a  general  law  would  create  any  large  accession  of 
competitors  to  the  existing  banks.  The  great  evil  of  the 
monopoly  does  not,  in  this  commonwealth,  lie  in  the  ex 
orbitant  value  of  the  privileges  conferred.  But  the  act 
of  special  legislation,  which  creates  a  bank,  does,  in  some 
measure,  imply  a  pledge  of  the  state  in  favor  of  the  institu- 
VOL.  ii.  30 


350  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tion.  The  state  calls  it  into  existence.  The  men  who  con 
tribute  its  capital,  whether  real  or  nominal,  are  not  alone 
responsible  for  it.  By  granting  a  charter  to  individuals,  the 
state  declares  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  legislature,  the  ob 
ject  of  the  corporators  is  praiseworthy,  and  deserves  en 
couragement.  The  consequence  of  this  is  obvious.  The 
legislature  continues  the  guardianship  of  the  institutions 
which  it  creates.  Now  the  true  object  of  the  legislature 
should  be,  not  to  favor  the  bankers,  but  to  protect  those 
who  hold  their  promises.  To  this  end,  the  legislature 
ought  not  to  share  the  responsibility  of  creating  them. 
If  they  must  exist,  let  them  spring  up  under  the  action 
of  general  laws  ;  arid  let  the  legislature  select,  for  its 
special  object,  the  enforcement  of  their  contracts.  The 
legislature  ought  not,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  give  its 
assurance  that  a  promise  on  paper  is  really  convertible 
into  and  equal  to  specie.  If  a  bank  issues  such  a  pro 
mise,  let  the  bank  see  to  it  that  the  promise  be  kept ;  and 
let  the  legislature  see  to  it  that  neither  corporation  nor 
individual  be  allowed  to  break  a  promise  with  impunity. 

And  here  I  cannot  but  express  an  apprehension  that 
all  systems  which,  whether  under  a  general  law  or  under 
special  acts,  shall  have  the  effect  to  pledge  the  faith  or  the 
opinion  of  the  government,  in  favor  of  the  responsibility 
of  banks,  will  be  essentially  faulty.  A  general  law  com 
pelling  banks  to  deposit  securities  with  an  officer  of  the 
government,  whether  treasurer  or  comptroller,  must  have 
the  effect  to  convey  to  the  people  the  idea  that  the  secu 
rities  thus  deposited  are,  in  the  opinion  of  the  govern 
ment,  sufficient.  If  I  am  right  in  considering  this  indi 
rect  pledge  of  the  public  confidence  as  one  of  the  radi 
cal  vices  of  our  system,  you  will  perceive  that  I  cannot 
consistently  recommend  a  system  which  would,  it  is  true, 
change  the  form  of  the  pledge,  but  would  in  reality  re 
new  it  in  a  stronger  form  than  before.  A  promise  must 
rest  on  the  ability  of  those  who  make  it,  and  in  the  deter 
mination  of  the  government  to  preserve  the  inviolability 
of  contracts.  The  legislature  ought  to  take  upon  itself 
nothing  but  the  preservation  of  that  inviolability,  and  for 
that  reason  ought  not  to  be  checked  in  its  course  by  such 
sentiments  as  would  naturally  arise  in  behalf  of  institu- 


351 

tions  towards  which  it  had  already  shown  itself  favora 
ble,  by  departing  from  the  rules  of  equality  in  creating 
them. 

The  vice  of  monopoly  in  our  system  has  another  evil. 
It  separates  the  banks  from  the  action  of  general  laws, 
and  binds  them  together  by  the  nature  of  special  legisla 
tion,  in  giving  to  them  peculiar  privileges  and  interests. 
Nay,  we  have  seen  banks  themselves  holding  conven 
tions,  and  usurping  the  power  to  decide  when,  and  un 
der  what  circumstances  they  would  recognize  the  validity 
of  their  own  promises  to  pay  on  demand;  and,  relying 
upon  their  claim  for  exemptions  and  indulgences,  pub 
licly  discussing  the  policy  of  an  honest  fulfilment  of  their 
obligations.  A  strong,  concentrated,  and  united  interest 
is  thus  made  to  operate,  not  only  upon  public  opinion, 
but  upon  legislation  itself.  In  proof  that  this  has  been 
the  case,  I  need  but  refer  to  your  own  journals.  While 
I  perceive  that  the  suspension  of  specie  payments,  by  the 
banks,  was,  by  a  large  majority,  declared  a  breach  of 
their  charters,  involving  a  liability  of  their  forfeiture,  it 
is  with  grief  I  read  there  a  law  justifying,  on  the  part  of 
the  banks,  the  suspension  of  specie  payments,  by  a  vir 
tual  repeal  of  its  penalties.  It  was  enough  for  the  pub 
lic  to  have  exercised  a  voluntary  forbearance.  If  my 
view  is  just,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  legislature,  if  it  in 
terfered  at  all,  to  have  interfered  for  asserting  the  invio 
lability  of  contracts.  But  such  is  the  vice  of  monopoly; 
it  wins  to  its  defence  the  power  that  gave  it  being ;  and 
all  the  interests  involved  in  it,  act  with  unity  in  protect 
ing  themselves  against  the  laws  to  which  individuals 
cheerfully  submit.  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  there  is 
danger  that  this  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the  legislature 
will  continue  till  the  character  of  monopoly  is  done 
away.  I  have  a  conviction  that  we  never  shall  be  safe 
against  bank  suspensions,  till  suspension  and  bankruptcy 
are  held  to  be  synonymous ;  till  the  idea  of  bank  con 
ventions  and  bank  concert  be  abandoned,  and  each  bank 
shall  for  itself  individually  resolve  always  honestly  to 
keep  its  promises.  It  is  so  in  the  mercantile  world. 
Each  merchant  acts  for  himself.  In  reference  to  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  the  true  remedy  is  obvious.  By  re- 


352  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

moving  the  character  of  monopoly,  each  bank  would  lose 
the  apparent  endorsement  of  the  commonwealth,  and 
would  be  thrown  on  its  own  resources  to  stand  or  fall,  as 
its  own  integrity  might  require. 

The  second  essential  vice  of  our  system — its  great  ex 
pansion,  and  the  wide  introduction  of  paper  as  the  exclu 
sive  currency  for  sums  as  small  even  as  one  dollar — is 
one  to  which  the  attention  of  Massachusetts  ought  espe 
cially  to  be  directed.  We  are  a  manufacturing  and  com 
mercial  people ;  and  we  have  been  suffering  from  a  sys 
tem  of  hostility  to  American  industry.  It  is  not  when 
considered  as  a  domestic  question,  that  this  evil  in  our 
banking  system  presents  its  worst  aspect.  It  is  when  we 
contemplate  our  relation  to  foreign  states,  that  we  are 
made  fully  sensible  of  the  cause  of  our  sufferings.  Our 
currency,  except  for  the  small  sums  required  for  change, 
is  composed  wholly  of  paper.  Very  little  gold  circulates 
among  us.  Even  silver  dollars  have  almost  disappeared 
from  the  currency.  Their  place  is  taken  by  paper.  Now 
this  paper  pretends  to  be  convertible  into,  and  equal  to, 
specie  ;  but  the  experience  of  the  few  last  years  has 
proved  that,  as  an  aggregate,  it  is  not.  The  great  ex 
pansion  of  the  credit  system  raises  prices  to  an  unnatural 
height, — far  exceeding  what  would  be  possible  in  coun 
tries  like  England  and  France,  where  gold  and  silver 
form  so  large  a  portion  of  the  currency.  The  foreigner 
is,  therefore,  by  the  instinct  of  interest,  induced  to  flood 
this  country  with  the  products  of  foreign  industry.  What 
avails  a  tariff,  even  a  high  tariff,  of  protection  ?  The 
unreasonable  rise  in  prices  more  than  countervails  the 
imposts  for  revenue.  At  home,  public  opinion  favoring 
a  paper  circulation,  the  paper  remains  in  the  hands  of  the 
people.  The  foreigner  has  less  delicacy;  he  converts 
his  paper  into  specie  and  exports  it.  This  always  hap 
pens  when  a  paper  currency  is  redundant.  Such  a  redun 
dancy  always  occasions  large  importations  from  abroad, 
and  the  consequent  export  of  the  precious  metals.  This 
effect  is  as  certain  as  the  laws  of  nature.  But  worse 
follows.  The  export  of  the  precious  metals  brings  with 
it,  of  necessity,  a  contraction  of  the  currency.  Bills 
run  home  upon  the  banks ;  prices  fall ;  collections  are 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  353 

difficult;  and  then,  when  our  own  merchants  and  our 
own  manufacturers  are  suffering  under  the  depression, 
and  really  need  additional  use  of  credit,  far  from  being 
able  to  obtain  it,  they  find  the  banks  themselves  entering 
the  money  market,  and  instead  of  being  money-lenders, 
borrowing  for  their  own  purposes  all  the  money  they  can 
reach.  The  pressure  from  which  we  have  just  been  suf 
fering  for  months,  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  banks  of 
very  large  capitals,  in  some  of  the  commercial  cities,  as 
well  as  many  banks  in  the  interior,  were  earnestly  seek 
ing  to  borrow.  The  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  were 
driven  from  the  competition  by  the  banks  themselves. 
So  dangerous  are  banks  of  circulation  !  So  fraught  with 
peril  is  exclusive  reliance  upon  paper  for  the  currency  I 
Its  influence  is  baneful  to  American  industry,  and  it 
brings  the  greatest  distress  upon  those  who  rely  upon  it 
the  most. 

The  consideration  of  these  fatal  consequences  to  do 
mestic  industry  and  personal  credit,  has  led  many  to  the 
apprehension  that  the  use  of  a  paper  currency,  for  the 
purposes  of  ordinary  circulation,  is  attended  with  more 
evils  than  benefits ;  and  that  banks  have  their  appropriate 
office  in  facilitating  the  larger  exchanges  of  commerce, 
rather  than  in  furnishing  a  circulating  medium  for  the 
smaller  payments  of  business.  Without  attempting  to 
decide  the  abstract  question,  it  is  now  an  acknowledged 
truth,  sanctioned  by  men  of  business  of  the  most  oppo 
site  political  sentiments  on  other  subjects,  that  our  system 
of  paper  circulation  has  been  carried  too  far.  Perhaps 
it  will  seem  to  you  the  dictate  of  prudence  to  await  the 
action  of  the  federal  government  on  the  revenue  system, 
before  attempting  a  reform  ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  express 
ing  to  you  my  belief,  that  the  suppression  of  small  bills 
and  the  consequent  supplying  of  their  places  with  gold 
and  silver  in  the  hands  and  in  the  pockets  of  the  people, 
would  essentially  diminish  the  dangers  of  bankruptcy  on 
the  part  of  the  banks,  and  of  losses  on  the  part  of  the 
people ;  would  protect  the  public  against  the  evils  of  de 
preciated  currency,  and  lessen  the  chances  of  loss  to  the 
stockholders  in  the  existing  banks.  Above  all,  it  would 
have  a  tendency  to  give  stability  to  our  manufactures, 
VOL.  u.  30* 


354  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

and  in  connection  with  the  independent  treasury,  would 
found  their  prosperity  on  a  rock. 

It  is  in  this  view  that  I  regard  the  great  and  leading 
measure  of  the  present  national  administration  as  fraught 
with  benefits  to  the  whole  Union ;  but  most  of  all,  to 
Massachusetts.  The  protection  afforded  by  a  high  tariff, 
smugglers  will  evade,  or  inflated  prices  will  render  nuga 
tory.  A  moderate  revenue,  steady  prices,  cash  duties, 
these  are  the  true  safeguards  to  domestic  industry.  Should 
the  system  of  the  independent  treasury  be  established,  its 
beneficial  effects  will  raise  to  its  support  the  voice  and 
the  convictions  of  the  shrewd,  intelligent,  and  sharp- 
sighted  manufacturers,  whose  industry  and  skill  are  the 
just  pride  of  New  England. 

We  have  been  elected,  and  are  now  assembled,  to 
transact  the  business  and  promote  the  welfare  of  the  com 
monwealth.  Collectively,  we  represent  the  whole  people, 
and  it  should  be  our  chief  duty  to  make  laws  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole.  Our  legislation,  like  light  and  air, 
and  the  dews  of  heaven,  should  fall  equally  upon  all.  A 
recurrence  to  our  legislative  history  will  show  how  small 
a  proportion  of  our  labor  is  given  to  the  public,  and  how 
much  to  individuals.  Of  the  nine  hundred  acts  which 
were  passed  in  the  last  four  years,  seven  hundred  fall  un 
der  the  denomination  of  "  special  laws,"  while  not  over 
two  hundred  were  "  general  laws."  And,  as  might  natu 
rally  be  expected,  a  still  greater  proportion  of  the  resolves 
are  of  a  private  nature.  There  are  undoubtedly  cases 
involving  private  interests,  which  deserve  and  should  re 
ceive  the  attention  and  the  action  of  the  legislature.  But 
surely  it  should  not  be  our  principal  employment  to  enact 
"special  statutes."  It  also  appears  that  some  of  the  pri 
vate  acts  are  passed  for  the  purpose  of  exempting  particular 
cases  from  the  operation  of  general  laws.  I  need  not  sug 
gest  that  such  legislation  is  fraught  with  danger.  This 
body  is  not  favorably  constituted  for  the  investigation  of 
private  claims,  and  is  liable  to  be  misled  by  the  represen 
tations  and  importunities  of  individuals  complaining  of 
the  unjust  and  severe  application  of  general  rules.  In  "  a 
government  of  laws,"  the  laws  themselves  should  be  gene 
ral  and  just,  and  should  be  allowed  to  have  a  free  and 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  355 

equable  course,  uninterrupted  by  the  interference  of  any 
department  of  government. 

Of  the  special  acts  above  referred  to,  more  than  one 
half  relate  to  corporations.  One  of  the  vices  of  the  pre 
sent  age,  stimulated  by  extravagance,  and  a  thirst  to  ac 
quire  property  without  earning  it,  is  a  desire  to  transact 
ordinary  business  by  means  of  charters  of  incorpora 
tion.  These  are  supposed  to  possess  advantages  and  to 
confer  facilities  for  the  transaction  of  business  and  the 
acquisition  of  wealth.  They  are  often  used  for  purposes 
of  speculation,  and  sometimes  of  deception  and  fraud. 
It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  they  bestow  the  benefits 
expected  from  them.  But  if  they  really  do  confer  "  par 
ticular  and  exclusive  privileges,"  it  constitutes  the  strong 
est  objection  to  their  enactment. 

Municipal,  parochial,  literary,  benevolent,  and  charita 
ble  incorporations  are  sometimes  necessary  and  useful. 
But  to  corporations  for  the  purpose  of  holding  and  mana 
ging  property,  there  are  many  objections.  They  change 
the  nature  of  property,  converting  real  into  personal. 
They  injuriously  affect  the  matrimonial  relation,  depri 
ving  the  wife  of  her  right  of  dower.  They  affect  the 
modes  of  conveyance,  avoiding  the  publicity  of  the  coun 
ty  registry.  They  diminish  the  liability  of  the  partners 
for  the  debts  of  the  company.  And  they  create  a  kind 
of  mortmain  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  our  laws  and 
the  genius  of  our  government.  The  prohibition  of  en- 
tailments,  and  the  equal  distribution  of  property,  are  es 
sential  to  a  democratic  government.  I  wish  they  were 
incorporated  into  our  constitution.  Re-establish  entails 
and  the  right  of  primogeniture,  and  I  should  despair  of 
the  continuance  of  our  government. 

Perpetuity  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  attributes  of  a  cor 
porate  body.  Its  members  are  continually  changing,  but 
its  legal  entity  and  tendency  remain  the  same  ;  and,  unless 
it  be  limited  in  its  charter  or  meet  an  unusual  termina 
tion,  it  will  live  forever.  Property  thus  holden  in  per 
petual  succession  cannot  come  under  the  full  operation 
of  our  statute  of  distributions.  The  stock  may  be  dis 
tributed,  and  new  stockholders  introduced ;  but  the  cor 
poration  remains  unchanged,  continuing  to  hold  the  cor- 


356 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


porate  property,  and  to  pursue  the  end  of  its  creation, 
unaffected  by  the  mutation  of  its  component  parts. 

Corporations,  as  such,  are  not  responsible  for  crimes. 
They  can  be  reached  only  through  their  members  and 
officers  ;  a  remedy  not  co-extensive  with  the  evil,  and  al 
ways  resorted  to  with  reluctance.  Corporations  have  no 
moral  responsibility.  The  responsibility  for  acts  of  the 
corporation  is  so  divided  among  its  members,  and  so  co 
vered  with  the  corporate  shield,  as  to  lose  most  of  its  pow 
er.  Acts  of  incorporation  vest  the  control  and  manage 
ment  of  masses  of  property  and  of  extensive  business  on 
which  many  may  depend  for  subsistence,  in  a  few  per 
sons,  who,  without  the  restraint  and  self-interest  of  indi 
vidual  responsibility,  use  the  means  in  their  hands  for  the 
accomplishment  of  objects  from  which,  as  private  citi 
zens,  they  would  shrink.  Special  charters,  therefore, 
should  be  granted  only  for  public  purposes  beyond  the 
ability  of  individual  efforts,  and  when  the  public  exigen 
cies  require  that  private  property  should  be  taken  for 
public  uses.  If  facilities  for  combined  action  in  ordina 
ry  business  transactions  be  deemed  necessary  or  useful, 
they  should  be  created  by  a  general  law,  like  the  law  of 
limited  partnerships,  which  should  be  alike  accessible  to 
all,  and  of  which  every  joint  stock  company  might  avail 
itself  without  requiring  the  agency  of  the  legislature. 

Among  the  prominent  objects  of  enterprise  which 
have  engaged  the  attention  of  the  American  people,  and 
which,  with  their  usual  ardor,  they  have  carried  to  excess, 
that  of  internal  improvements  takes  the  lead.  The  labor 
and  capital  which,  in  the  half  century  that  has  elapsed 
since  the  formation  of  our  federal  constitution,  have  been 
expended  within  the  United  States  upon  turnpikes, 
bridges,  canals,  and  rail-roads,  amount  to  several  hun 
dred  millions  of  dollars.  Many  durable  and  useful  im 
provements  have  been  made.  The  country  has  derived 
advantages  from  them.  Its  permanent  wealth  has  been 
increased.  But  with  the  benefits,  evils  also  have  arisen. 
Much  capital  has  been  wasted  upon  injudicious  and  im 
provident  undertakings.  And  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm 
which  has  been  excited  in  favor  of  these  enterprises  has, 
not  infrequently,  outrun  the  public  wants,  and  anticipa- 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  357 

ted  a  state  of  things  which  never  will  exist.  Conse 
quently,  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  these  prema 
ture  developments  will  fail  to  counterbalance  the  evil  of 
the  immense  debts  incurred. 

Not  the  least  of  the  causes  of  the  frequent  embarrass 
ments  in  our  monetary  affairs,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  enor 
mous  investments  of  capital  in  permanent  and  unproduc 
tive  improvements,  and  its  consequent  withdrawal  from 
active  business.  The  debts  of  the  different  states,  in 
curred  mostly  for  internal  improvements,  amount  to  nearly 
two  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  These,  by  the  annual 
payment  of  the  interest,  and  the  eventual  extinguishment 
of  the  principal,  a  large  portion  of  which  must  be  paid 
in  Europe,  will,  for  many  years,  cause  an  exhausting  drain 
of  the  wealth  of  our  country,  which  will  produce  a  dele 
terious  effect  upon  its  credit  and  currency,  and  retard  its 
advancement  and  prosperity. 

Among  the  states  which  have  incurred,  and  are  now 
subject  to  heavy  responsibilities,  I  mention  with  sorrow 
our  own  ancient  and  venerated  commonwealth.  I  regret 
that  private  resources  were  not  adequate  to  the  accom 
plishment  of  the  enterprises  which  private  corporations 
had  undertaken.  Many  objections  to  this  mode  of  em 
barking  the  credit  or  the  resources  of  the  state,  exist. 
All  experience  has  shown  the  disadvantages  under  which 
a  government  enters  into  business  transactions  of  any 
kind.  The  number  and  expense  of  its  agencies,  and  the 
negligence,  unskilfulness,  or  unfaithfulness  of  its  agents 
always  expose  it  to  loss.  It  never  can  compete  with  in 
dividual  shrewdness  and  diligence.  Hence,  any  partner 
ship  or  other  business  connection  between  the  government 
and  individuals  or  corporations,  is  unequal  and  disadvan 
tageous  to  the  state.  It  generally  results  in  the  payment 
of  the  expenses  by  the  one,  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  ad 
vantages  by  the  other. 

In  states  where,  from  their  natural  formation,  internal 
improvements  may  be  extended  over  every  portion  of  their 
surface,  and  where  their  benefits  may  be  shared  with 
some  degree  of  equality  by  all  the  people,  less  objections 
exist  to  their  construction  at  the  public  expense.  But  in 
this  state,  where  the  laws  of  nature  forbid  a  general  and 


358  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

equal  distribution  of  internal  improvements,  and  where 
their  advantages  must  necessarily  be,  to  a  great  extent, 
local  and  sectional,  the  construction  of  them  by  the. 
state  would  impose  unequal  and  unjust  burdens.  It 
would  be  to  raise  money  from  the  whole  to  be  expended 
for  the  benefit  of  a  part.  It  would  be  impoverishing  one 
section  to  enrich  another.  And  this  is  true,  to  some  ex 
tent,  of  every  expenditure  not  made  for  the  general  and 
equal  benefit  of  all.  The  common  objects  are  few,  and 
easily  understood.  The  support  of  the  government  in 
all  its  branches ;  the  prompt  and  impartial  administration 
of  justice,  including  sufficient  physical  force  to  insure 
the  faithful  execution  of  the  laws,  the  support  of  free 
schools,  and  the  promotion  of  good  education,  are  the 
principal  common  objects  which  should  be  a  common 
expense. 

But  as  far  as  the  faith  of  the  state  has  been  pledged, 
no  one  will  be  so  recreant  to  its  honor  as  to  hesitate  to 
fulfil,  punctiliously,  every  valid  engagement  which  has 
been  made  in  its  behalf.  The  assessments  which  maybe 
laid  upon  the  stock  holden  by  the  state,  must  be"  promptly 
met.  But  it  is  confidently  believed  that  every  grant  has 
been  made  which  will  be  needed  to  complete  the  enter 
prises  our  predecessors  deemed  worthy  of  the  public  pa 
tronage.  The  liabilities  involved  in  these  grants,  inclu 
ding  the  subscription  for  the  stock  in  the  western  rail 
road,  may  amount  to  more  than  five  millions  of  dollars ; 
the  annual  interest  upon  which,  including  the  incidental 
expenses  of  payment,  would  not  probably  fall  short  of 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars;  a  general  liability  and  a 
yearly  claim,  which,  should  they  become  fixed  upon  the 
commonwealth,  would  constitute  a  lien  upon  all  the  im 
movable  property  within  it,  that  would  perceptibly  impair 
its  value.  I  earnestly  desire  that  each  corporation  to 
which  the  credit  of  the  state  has  been  accorded,  may  be 
able  to  meet  all  its  engagements,  and  in  due  time  to  re 
lieve  the  state  from  the  responsibilities  thus  gratuitously 
assumed.  But  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  and  prudence  to 
look  carefully  into  the  nature  and  extent  of  our  liabili 
ties,  and  to  make  preparation  in  season,  and  in  the  least 
burdensome  manner,  to  meet  any  contingency  whic-h 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  359 

may  arise,  and  to  preserve  unsullied  the  honor  and  faith 
of  the  commonwealth. 

The  state,  by  its  responsibilities  for  several  rail-road 
corporations,  has  acquired  such  an  interest  in  their  suc 
cess  as  will  justify  an  investigation  into  their  affairs,  to 
ascertain  whether  a  due  regard  to  the  interest  of  the  state 
and  to  economy,  has  been  observed  in  the  number  of  offi 
cers  and  agents  employed,  in  the  compensation  paid  to 
them,  and  in  the  mariner  of  making  assessments  upon 
the  capital  stock. 

The  fiscal  condition  of  the  commonwealth  will  require 
much  of  your  providence.  I  have  just  presented  for  your 
consideration,  the  contingent  liabilities  of  the  common 
wealth.  I  now  ask  your  attention  to  its  direct  debts, 
and  recommend  the  earliest  extinguishment  of  them 
which  may  be  compatible  with  the  pecuniary  means  and 
resources  of  the  state.  A  reform  in  the  administration 
of  our  finances  is  indispensable  to  our  prosperity  and 
respectability.  For  several  years  our  expenditures  have 
exceeded  our  revenue;  and,  consequently,  a  debt  has 
been  accumulating,  which,  if  suffered  to  increase  in  the 
same  ratio,  will,  eventually,  involve  our  state  in  deep  em 
barrassment,  and  subject  ourselves  or  our  posterity  to 
onerous  taxation. 

We  present  the  extraordinary  spectacle  of  a  state,  rich 
in  its  internal  resources,  in  the  treasures  it  draws  from 
the  ocean,  in  the  accumulated  capital  of  many  years  of 
labor  and  economy,  in  the  habitual  industry  aud  frugality 
of  its  inhabitants,  and  in  the  export  of  the  surplus  of  its 
fisheries  and  manufactures — narrow  and  compact  in  its 
territory,  dense  in  its  population,  advanced  in  civilization 
and  in  moral  and  intellectual  refinement,  with  the  most 
facile  and  convenient  means  of  intercommunication — in 
short,  so  surrounded  with  natural  and  artificial  advan 
tages,  as  to  be  capable  of  the  best  possible  government  at 
the  least  possible  expense — during  a  period  of  peace  and 
productiveness,  annually  incurring  debts  to  meet  its  cur 
rent  expenses.  Fellow-citizens,  duty  to  our  constituents, 
justice  to  posterity,  demand  a  reform.  Our  means  of 
raising  money  are  ample  and  available.  Whatever  here 
after  may  be  needed  to  pay  our  existing  debts  or  eventual 


360  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

liabilities,  should  be  fearlessly  called  for.  The  people, 
if  convinced  of  the  necessity  and  economy  of  the  expen 
diture,  will  honorably  respond  to  the  call.  But  they 
have  a  right  to  require  strict  economy  and  accountability. 
And,  in  my  opinion,  a  resort  to  taxation  is  wholly  unne 
cessary.  Our  present  revenue  is  amply  sufficient  to  meet 
all  our  necessary  expenses.  Let  retrenchment  be  a  sub 
stitute  for  taxation.  Our  expenditures  have  been  unne 
cessarily  large.  Let  them  be  diminished.  Economy, 
though  more  difficult  to  be  practised,  is  a  high  virtue  in 
public  administrations,  as  well  as  in  private  life.  It  should 
be  a  fixed  principle  in  both,  to  keep  down  the  expenses 
below  the  income.  The  cost  of  administering  our  go 
vernment  has  been  progressively  increasing,  and  in  the 
last  fifteen  years  has  more  than  doubled.  It  should  be 
reduced.  Increase  is  more  easy  than  reduction.  But 
retrenchment  is  practicable,  and  must  be  introduced. 
The  people,  as  they  have  a  right  to  do,  imperiously  re 
quire  it.  Look  into  the  different  sources  of  expenditure. 
If  any  are  excessive,  reduce  them  ;  if  any  are  unnecessa 
ry,  cut  them  off.  If  there  be  any  supernumerary  offi 
cers,  or  any  agencies  or  commissions  not  immediately 
necessary  for  the  public  good,  abolish  them.  If  any  of 
the  public  servants  are  paid  too  much,  reduce  their 
compensation.  True  economy  requires,  that  the  state 
should  employ  no  more  agents  than  are  needed  for  the 
proper  transaction  of  the  public  business,  and  that  they 
should  receive  a  compensation  which  will  command 
suitable  talents,  and  will  be  a  fair  equivalent  for  the 
services  rendered.  But  let  nothing  be  added  for  vain 
show  or  ostentatious  display — nothing  on  account  of 
family  or  friends ;  nothing  for  political  services  or  parti 
san  efforts. 

And  let  us  set  an  example  ourselves,  by  the  promptness 
with  which  we  enter  into  business,  and  the  despatch  with 
which  we  conclude  it.  Let  our  efforts  be  mainly  direct 
ed  to  general  subjects  which  affect  the  whole  people,  and 
let  us  avoid  that  special  legislation  which  principally  re 
gards  the  interest  and  advancement  of  a  few.  In  this 
way  we  may  reduce  the  length  of  our  session  and  there 
by  save  much  expense,  without  any  injury  to  the  public 


oov.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  361 

service.  Indeed,  too  much  legislation  and  too  much  go 
vernment,  are  among  those  tendencies  of  the  age  against 
which  it  is  our  duty  to  guard.  If  I  may  be  supposed  to 
have  gone  out  of  my  appropriate  sphere  in  making  these 
suggestions,  I  must  seek  an  apology  in  the  earnestness 
of  my  desire  to  reduce  our  expenses  to  our  income,  and 
in  the  firmness  of  my  conviction  that  it  is  neither  imprac 
ticable,  nor  difficult  to  do  so,  and  not  in  any  distrust  of 
your  disposition  to  accomplish  the  same  end.  The  sub 
ject  falls  peculiarly  within  the  province  of  the  legislature, 
and  especially  the  most  numerous  branch  of  it,  the  mem 
bers  of  which,  from  their  number,  must  be  presumed  to 
represent  more  fully  and  truly  the  whole  population,  and 
to  know  and  feel  more  thoroughly  and  certainly  their 
wishes  and  wants.  I  will  therefore  only  add,  that  such 
measures  of  retrenchment  and  reduction  as  your  experi 
ence  and  wisdom  may  suggest,  whatever  branches  of  the 
service  or  classes  of  public  servants  they  may  affect, 
shall  receive  my  cordial  concurrence. 

The  vacancy  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court  having  reduced  the  number  of  justices  to  four,  I 
recommend  to  the  legislature  the  repeal  of  the  law  in 
creasing  their  number.  From  a  good  deal  of  experience 
in  our  highest  court,  and  much  observation  of  the  pro 
ceedings  of  other  judicial  tribunals,  I  am  convinced  that 
no  other  number  unites  so  many  advantages  for  the  due 
administration  of  justice  as  four.  For  centuries,  the 
highest  courts  of  law,  in  that  country  whence  we  derive 
many  of  our  laws,  and  more  of  our  judicial  precedents 
and  forms  of  proceeding,  were  composed  of  four  justices 
each.  And  although  the  numbers  have  recently  been  in 
creased,  yet  I  believe  it  was  not  because  the  former  num 
bers  were  inconvenient  for  deliberation  or  decision.  The 
duties  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  are  now  arduous 
and  severe.  But  by  a  proper  distribution  of  labor  between 
that  court  and  the  Common  Pleas,  and  by  a  reasonable 
restriction  of  the  right  of  appeal,  the  two  courts  will 
be  able  to  transact  the  business  that  may  come  before 
them,  with  all  the  promptitude  which  the  nature  of  it  will 
permit. 

It  is,  in  my  opinion,  practicable  to  reduce  the  number 

VOL.  II.  31 


THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  the  judges,  to  diminish  the  amount  of  their  labor,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  improve  the  administration  of  jus 
tice.  But  to  accomplish  these  desirable  objects,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  introduce  into  the  judicial  system  some 
important  alterations.  The  increase  of  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  the  Common  Pleas,  might  afford  some 
relief  to  the  higher  court ;  but  it  would  be,  at  best,  only 
an  imperfect  and  temporary  expedient.  I  think  a  deeper 
and  more  radical  change  is  needed  ;  a  change  which  will 
not  relieve  one  court  at  the  expense  of  the  other,  but 
will  lighten  and  facilitate  the  business  of  both.  Let 
original  and  concurrent  jurisdiction  in  all  real  actions, 
and  in  all  personal  actions  where  the  damages  claimed 
exceed  five  hundred  dollars,  (or  such  other  sum  as  the 
legislature  may  judge  best,)  be  conferred  on  the  two 
courts ;  let  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  all  other  actions, 
not  cognizable  by  a  justice  of  the  peace,  be  conferred 
on  the  Common  Pleas,  and  let  appeals  from  all  judg 
ments,  on  questions  of  fact,  be  abolished.  It  is  not  in 
tended  hereby  to  restrict  the  removal  of  all  questions  of 
law,  by  appeal  or  exceptions,  as  heretofore  practised. 
These  alterations  would,  in  my  opinion,  not  only  lessen 
the  heavy  burdens  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  would 
greatly  expedite  the  collection  of  debts,  and  essentially 
diminish  the  delay  and  expense  of  litigation,  which  now, 
to  poorer  parties,  amounts  almost  to  a  denial  of  justice. 

The  right  to  two  trials  by  jury  of  the  same  question 
of  fact  is  peculiar  to  this  country,  and  liable  to  many 
objections.  It  impairs  the  respect  which  is  due  to  the 
decisions  of  juries.  It  presents  the  absurdity  of  giving 
full  effect  to  the  second  verdict,  and  treating  as  a  nullity 
the  first,  when  both  are  rendered  before  courts  perfectly 
competent  to  conduct  the  trials,  and  by  juries  supposed 
in  law  to  be  equally  capable  of  deciding  correctly.  But 
jurors,  though  drawn  from  the  same  source,  are  not 
always  equal  in  experience  or  intelligence,  and  it  often 
happens  that  the  verdict  of  the  most  competent  jury  is 
set  aside,  at  the  will  of  an  interested  party,  while  that  of 
the  subsequent  one,  though  less  competent,  must  be  con 
clusive.  The  disclosures  of  the  first  trial  present  to  the 
parties  strong  temptations,  in  preparing  for  the  second, 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH  363 

to  tamper  with  witnesses,  and  to  resort  to  other  corrupt 
and  dangerous  practices. 

We  have  for  so  long  a  time,  and  with  such  a  degree 
of  success,  practised  upon  our  present  system,  that  we 
have  become  wedded  to  it,  and  are  not  sufficiently  aware 
of  its  vices.  The  integrity  of  our  population  may, 
measurably,  have  protected  us  from  its  evil  tendencies. 
But  there  is  danger  that  they  will  increase.  That  cor 
ruption  has  sometimes  been  successfully  resorted  to,  can 
not  be  doubted.  We  have,  however,  the  consoling 
belief  that  it  has  been  very  limited.  But,  as  from  its 
nature,  it  must  be  shrouded  in  secrecy,  the  extent  of  it 
cannot  be  known.  Even  the  apprehension  of  such  a 
danger  is  sufficient  to  justify  the  removal  of  the  cause  of 
it.  I  am  for  these  reasons  of  opinion,  that,  with  proper 
precautions  against  accidents  or  surprise,  and  with  suit 
able  provision  for  new  trials,  when  new  evidence  may 
be  discovered,  the  right  of  appeal  from  the  decision  of 
a  question  of  fact  may  safely  and  wisely  be  abolished. 
I  therefore  recommend  the  amendments,  the  outline  of 
which  I  have  suggested.  The  two  courts,  composed  of 
four  justices  each,  with  the  above  distribution  of  powers 
and  duties  between  them,  would  constitute  as  perfect  a 
judiciary,  as,  in  our  situation,  "  the  lot  of  humanity  will 
admit." 

The  power  "  to  raise  and  support  armies,"  and  "  to 
provide  for  organizing,  arming  and  disciplining  the  mili 
tia,"  is  vested  in  Congress.  But,  in  relation  to  the  mili 
tia,  the  several  states,  by  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States,  possess  a  most  important  branch  of 
the  power.  And  if  this  arm  of  our  defence,  which  on 
trying  occasions  has  stood  the  country  in  so  much  stead, 
is  to  be  preserved  and  improved,  it  must  be  by  the  ac 
tion  of  the  state  legislatures.  It  is  a  source  of  deep 
regret  and  mortification,  that  the  state  and  organization 
of  our  militia  are  so  imperfect.  For  some  time,  its 
progress  has  been  that  of  deterioration,  instead  of  im 
provement.  I  therefore  recommend  a  careful  and  thor 
ough  revision  of  the  whole  system.  Something  should 
be  done  to  improve  the  organization  and  discipline  which 
it  needs,  and  to  equalize  the  duties  and  burdens  which 


364  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

it  imposes.  By  enrolling,  arming,  and  equipping  all 
within  the  prescribed  ages,  by  requiring  the  principal 
duties,  and  the  highest  discipline  from  select  corps,  and 
by  granting  them  a  moderate  compensation,  which,  if  it 
did  not  remunerate  them  for  their  services,  would  reim 
burse  their  expenses,  it  is  believed  the  whole  system 
might  be  improved,  and  something  like  justice  done  to 
that  body  of  patriotic  young  men  who  form  the  bone  and 
muscle  of  the  physical  power  of  the  country. 

No  government  can  maintain  order,  enforce  its  laws, 
and  punish  crimes,  "without  some  physical  force  to  which 
it  may  resort  in  case  it  becomes  necessary.  Its  exist 
ence  may  be  sufficient  without  its  use.  A  knowledge 
that  such  a  force  is  ready  to  be  called  into  action,  when 
required  by  the  civil  authority,  carries  with  it  a  moral 
power  which  gives  potency  to  the  wand  of  the  civil  offi 
cer,  and,  in  almost  all  cases,  supersedes  the  necessity  of 
a  resort  to  physical  coercion.  This  force  must  consist 
of  a  standing  army,  or  of  the  militia.  That  citizen  sol 
diers  are  to  be  preferred  to  professional  mercenaries,  and 
that  effective  measures  to  maintain  the  one  so  as  to  leave 
no  occasion  to  resort  to  the  other,  should  be  adopted,  no 
friend  of  our  free  institutions  can  doubt. 

The  education  of  the  people  is  a  subject  which  has 
commanded  so  much  of  the  public  consideration,  and 
been  so  often  and  so  ably  presented  to  successive  legis 
latures,  that  it  will  not  fail  to  command  your  earliest  at 
tention  and  most  anxious  deliberations.  Its  importance 
in  a  democratic  government,  which  must  be  sustained 
by  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people,  cannot  be 
too  highly  appreciated.  The  system  of  free  schools, 
which  has  been  transmitted  from  generation  to  genera 
tion,  has  improved  in  its  progress,  and  is  now  in  a  high 
degree  of  perfection.  But  it  is  capable  of  still  further 
improvement.  Recently,  great  labor  has  been  bestowed 
upon,  and  great  advancement  made,  in  some  depart 
ments  of  education.  But  the  very  improvements  in  the 
higher  branches,  and  in  the  more  elevated  seminaries, 
excite  the  ambition  and  engross  the  attention  of  those 
most  active  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  thus  expose 
the  common  schools  to  fail  into  neglect  and  disrepute. 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  365 

To  arouse  that  strong  and  universal  interest  in  them, 
which  is  so  necessary  to  their  utility  and  success,  an  in 
terest  that  should  pervade  both  parents  and  children,  the 
responsibility  of  their  management  should  rest  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  the  towns.  And  the  more  immediately 
they  are  brought  under  the  control  of  those  for  whose 
benefit  they  are  established,  and  at  whose  expense  they 
are  supported,  the  more  deep  and  active  will  be  the 
feelings  engendered  in  their  favor,  and  the  more  certain 
and  universal  will  be  their  beneficial  agency.  In  the 
town  and  district  meetings,  those  little  pure  democracies, 
where  our  citizens  first  learn  the  rudiments  and  the 
practical  operation  of  free  institutions,  may  safely  and 
rightfully  be  placed  the  direction  and  the  government 
of  these  invaluable  seminaries.  In  my  opinion,  the  main 
efforts,  and  the  most  unceasing  vigilance  of  the  govern 
ment  should  be  directed  to  the  encouragement  of  the 
primary  schools.  These  are  the  fountains  whence  should 
flow  the  knowledge  that  should  enlighten,  and  the  virtue 
that  should  preserve,  our  free  institutions.  Let  them 
ever  be  kept  free  and  pure. 

The  instruction  of  the  common  mind  should  be  the 
common  concern.  Let  the  whole  people  be  educated 
and  brought  up  to  the  standard  of  good  citizens,  and  in 
telligent  and  moral  members  of  society.  Let  the  govern 
ment  care  for  those  who  have  no  one  else  to  care  for 
them.  The  poor,  the  weak,  the  depressed,  and  the  ne 
glected,  have  the  greatest  need  of  the  protecting  arm  and 
the  succoring  hand  of  the  commonwealth.  Let  the  chil 
dren  of  such  be  deemed  the  children  of  the  republic,  and 
furnished  with  suitable  means  of  instruction,  that  their 
powers,  mental  and  physical,  may  be  developed,  and  they 
be  converted  into  ornaments  and  blessings  to  the  com 
munity.  Let  the  town  schools  be  open  to  all,  and  made  so 
respectable  and  useful,  that  all  may  desire  to  enter  them. 
The  district  school,  properly  governed  and  instructed,  is 
a  nursery  of  democratic  sentiments.  It  strikingly  illus 
trates  the  fundamental  principle  of  our  government. 
There,  before  the  pride  of  family  or  wealth,  or  other  ad 
ventitious  distinction  has  taken  deep  root  in  the  young 
heart,  assemble  upon  a  perfect  level,  children  of  all  cir- 

VOL.  II.  31* 


366  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

cumstances  and  situations  of  life.  There  they  learn  that 
rewards  and  honors  do  not  depend  upon  accidental  advan 
tages,  but  upon  superior  diligence,  good  conduct  and  im 
provement.  There  they  have  practically  written  upon 
their  tender  minds,  too  deeply  to  be  obliterated  by  the 
after  occurrences  and  changes  of  life,  the  great  princi 
ples  of  equal  rights,  equal  duties,  and  equal  advantages. 

It  is  the  illumination  of  the  universal  mind  that  is  the 
sure  foundation  of  democracy.  It  is  the  elevation  of 
every  rational  soul  into  moral  and  intellectual  conscious 
ness  and  dignity,  that  is  to  carry  onward  improvements 
in  our  social  and  civil  institutions.  To  this  end  should 
be  directed  the  highest  aims  and  efforts  of  the  legisla 
ture. 

Our  bill  of  rights  enjoins  "  a  constant  adherence  to 
the  principles  of  piety,  justice,  moderation,  temperance, 
industry  and  frugality,"  as  "  absolutely  necessary  to  pre 
serve  the  advantages  of  liberty  and  to  maintain  a  free  go 
vernment."  These  are  general  duties  prescribed,  and 
general  ends  recommended,  rather  than  particular  direc 
tions  to  be  executed  by  positive  enactments.  These  vir 
tues  may  be  inculcated  and  encouraged  by  the  general 
tendency  of  our  legislation,  but  cannot  be  enforced  by 
specific  penalties.  They  should  form  the  spirit  of  our 
legislative  action,  and  give  character  to  our  laws.  They 
should  govern  our  private  conduct  and  public  duties. 
"  The  people  ought  to  have  a  particular  attention  to  all 
these  principles  in  the  choice  of  their  officers  and  repre 
sentatives  ;  and  they  have  a  right  to  require  of  their  law 
givers  and  magistrates  an  exact  and  constant  observance 
of  them,  in  the  formation  and  execution  of  the  laws." 
These  monitions  and  injunctions,  deemed,  by  our  ances 
tors,  worthy  a  place  among  our  fundamental  laws,  cannot 
be  too  sacredly  regarded  by  magistrates  and  people. 

The  manner  in  which  these  virtues  may  be  promoted 
by  public  authority,  must  depend  on  the  nature  of  the 
government  and  the  state  of  society.  Some  governments 
have  prescribed  the  cut  of  the  hair  and  the  fashion  of  the 
dress.  Others  have  regulated  regimen  and  diet,  and  es 
tablished  the  prices  of  articles  of  consumption.  But  such 
sumptuary  regulations  are  supposed  by  many  to  interfere 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  MESSAGE.  367 

with  private  pursuits,  and  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  of  a  free  government. 

.In  the  early  settlement  of  our  country,  and  in  the 
primitive  state  of  its  manners,  it  was  supposed  that  piety 
and  religion  might  be  aided  and  advanced  by  establishing 
a  particular  mode  of  worship,  by  compelling  all  to  con 
tribute  towards  its  support,  and  by  coercing,  under  legal 
penalties,  a  universal  attendance  upon  it.  But  as  we  ad 
vanced  in  moral  improvement,  and  in  a  knowledge  of 
individual  rights  and  of  the  principles  of  toleration,  it 
was  found  that  these  compulsory  regulations  infringed 
the  rights  of  conscience  and  the  freedom  of  religious 
worship.  And  it  seems  now  to  be  universally  conceded, 
that  the  only  wise  and  safe  mode  of  promoting  religion 
and  piety,  is  to  secure  to  each  individual  the  most  perfect 
liberty  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his 
own  conscience,  leaving  him  to  his  own  responsibility  and 
convictions  of  religious  duty. 

No  one  of  -the  virtues  above  recommended  meets  with 
more  universal  approbation,  or  is  more  difficult  to  main 
tain,  than  temperance.  The  baneful  influence  of  the 
opposite  vice,  so  degrading,  so  destructive  of  every  man 
ly  and  honorable  sentiment,  is  universally  acknowledged 
and  dreaded.  And  yet  so  strong  is  its  hold  upon  the  sin 
ful  propensities  of  our  nature,  that  it  could  never  yet  be 
totally  eradicated.  Reason,  virtue,  affection,  all  fall  be 
fore  it.  In  the  suppression  of  intemperance,  much  of 
individual  and  of  combined  effort  has  been  made.  At 
first,  reasoning,  example,  and  moral  suasion,  were  relied 
upon  ;  and  extraordinary  and  unexpected  success  crown 
ed  the  labors  of  those  who  had  so  zealously  engaged  in 
the  enterprise.  The  use  of  spirituous  liquors  had  great 
ly  diminished,  and  the  desired  reform  promised  to  be 
eminently  successful.  But  recently  the  movement  in 
some  places  has  been  retrograde.  And  it  cannot  be  dis 
guised  that  the  consumption  of  alcoholic  liquors  has 
been  greater  during  the  last  year,  than  in  any  one  of 
several  preceding  years.  To  what  cause  shall  this  unfa 
vorable  reverse  be  imputed  ?  Many  suppose  that  it  is 
owing  to  the  act  of  1838,  "  to  regulate  the  sale  of  spirit 
uous  liquors,"  and  to  the  excitement  and  prejudice  grow- 


368  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

ing  out  of  that  statute  and  the  attempts  to  enforce  it. 
While  the  advocates  of  temperance  confined  their  labors 
to  argument  and  example,  to  public  lectures  and  private 
admonitions,  their  progress  was  rapid  and  steady.  But 
when  they  called  to  their  aid  constraint  and  legal  coer 
cion,  they  roused  a  spirit  of  independence  and  resist 
ance, — a  determination  not  to  yield  to  any  interference, 
supposed  or  real,  with  individual  rights,  personal  habits, 
or  private  business,  which  counteracted  their  benevolent 
intentions,  and  rendered  abortive  their  philanthropic 
efforts. 

The  statute,  too,  has  proved  ineffective.  In  a  govern 
ment  so  popular  in  all  its  attributes  as  ours,  laws  which 
run  counter  to  the  opinions  or  interests,  to  the  prejudices 
or  sober  convictions  of  large  portions  of  the  people,  can 
not  be  fully  and  fairly  executed.  Witnesses  are  reluc- 
lant  to  disclose  the  whole  truth,  and  jurors  are  unwilling 
to  convict.  The  one  will  find  an  excuse  for  the  imper 
fection  of  his  recollection,  and  the  other  for  his  distrust 
of  the  proof,  in  the  unreasonableness  of  the  law,  and 
the  injustice  of  a  conviction  under  it.  The  numerous 
attempts  to  enforce  this  statute,  have  involved  the  com 
monwealth  in  great  expense  ;  have  induced  many  to  pal 
ter  with  their  obligations  of  duty ;  and  have  brought 
distrust  upon  the  purity  of  our  judicial  proceedings. 

From  the  most  careful  observation  of  the  operation  of 
this  statute  in  different  parts  of  the  state,  and  from  the 
most  mature  consideration  of  the  subject,  I  am  con 
strained  to  believe,  and  am  fully  convinced,  that  it  has 
failed  to  promote  the  objects  for  which  it  was  enacted; 
has  produced  in  its  administration  much  moral  and  poli 
tical  evil,  and  has  disturbed  the  peace  and  good  order  of 
society  by  the  discord  and  animosity  which  it  has  engen 
dered  among  the  people.  I  therefore  recommend  its  re 
peal.  I  hope  your  wisdom  and  experience  will  suggest 
such  a  substitute  as  will  not  be  supposed  to  interfere  with 
the  pursuits  and  employments  of  individuals  ;  as  will  tend 
to  allay  the  existing  excitement,  and  promote  the  cause  of 
temperance  and  good  morals. 

The  costs  of  criminal  prosecutions  have  greatly  in 
creased  and  become  a  heavy  item  in  our  annual  expendi- 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  369 

tures.  The  statute,  the  repeal  of  which  is  above  recom 
mended,  has  largely  contributed  to  swell  the  amount. 
This  cause  of  expense,  I  trust,  will  be  removed.  And  I 
cannot  doubt  that,  in  some  other  respects,  the  adminis 
tration  of  criminal  law  may  be  improved  and  rendered 
less  expensive. 

The  dispensation  of  justice  and  the  support  of  paupers 
having  no  settlement  in  any  particular  town,  is  the  pro 
per  duty  and  the  proper  charge  of  the  commonwealth. 
Any  attempt  to  avoid  either,  by  transferring  the  expense 
of  the  former  to  counties,  and  the  latter  to  towns,  will 
not  diminish  the  public  burdens,  but  will  throw  them  up 
on  those  who  ought  not  to  bear  them,  and  will  relieve  the 
whole  at  the  expense  of  a  part.  Like  any  other  unequal 
and  arbitrary  apportionment,  it  would  operate  unrighteous 
ly  and  oppressively. 

Our  criminal  code,  in  the  progressive  improvements  it 
has  received,  is  now  characterized  by  its  humanity  as  well 
as  by  its  justice.  But  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  susceptible  of 
still  flirther  and  important  amendments.  The  lenity  of 
punishment  is  one  of  the  proofs  of  the  improvement  of 
the  age.  The  number  of  crimes  now  by  law  punishable 
with  death,  is  very  small.  And  in  my  opinion  public  sen 
timent  calls  for  a  further  reduction  of  it.  The  statistics 
of  crime  satisfactorily  show  that  the  number  of  offences 
is  not  increased  by  the  mitigation  of  punishments  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  that  crimes  have  diminished  nearly  in 
proportion  to  the  amelioration  of  criminal  law.  The  le 
gitimate  object  of  human  punishment  is  not  the  expiation 
of  the  offence,  but  the  prevention  of  crime,  and  the 
security  of  the  community.  Any  severity  beyond  what  is 
required  for  this  purpose  savors  of  cruelty,  and  an  unne 
cessary  infliction  of  pain  on  our  fellow-creatures.  The 
severity  of  criminal  laws  renders  their  execution  difficult, 
and  thereby  defeats  the  object  of  them.  The  certainty, 
rather  than  the  severity,  of  punishment  is  the  surest  pre 
ventive  of  crime.  The  strong  sentiment  against  the 
punishment  of  death  which  pervades  the  community,  ren 
ders  capital  convictions  almost  impracticable,  and  thus 
frequently  enables  great  offenders  to  escape  merited 
punishment.  Many  people  doubt  the  right  of  human  go- 


370  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

vernments  to  take  the  life  of  a  fellow-being  for  any  cause, 
and  believe  that  life,  the  immediate  gift  of  God,  that 
which  cannot  be  restored  by  any  human  power,  should 
not  be  destroyed  by  it.  Without  entering  into  this  in 
quiry,  but  believing  that  the  number  of  capital  punish 
ments  may  safely  be  reduced,  if  the  whole  may  not  be 
abolished,  and  that  the  most  prudent  and  effectual  way  to 
correct  errors  or  reform  abuses,  is  by  gradual  and  pro 
gressive  steps,  testing  them  by  experience  as  we  proceed, 
I  recommend  the  substitution  of  a  milder  punishment 
than  death,  in  most  cases ;  leaving  the  fit  punishment  of 
murder  for  the  revision  of  future  legislatures. 

The  insolvent  law  of  1838  has  introduced  a  great 
change  in  the  relative  rights  of  debtor  and  creditor,  and 
of  the  remedies  for  the  collection  of  debts.  We  have 
not  yet  had  sufficient  experience  to  form  an  opinion  of 
its  operation  and  effect.  Should  it  prove  salutary  and 
beneficial,  I  can  perceive  no  sufficient  reason  why  its  pro 
visions  should  not  be  extended  so  as  to  embrace  all  classes 
of  debtors,  without  regard  to  the  amount  of  their  debts 
or  assets.  No  system  of  laws  which  treats  poverty  as  a 
crime,  or  subjects  honest  debtors  to  imprisonment,  like 
felons,  can  have  its  foundation  in  justice,  humanity,  or 
sound  policy.  If  any  further  legislation  be  needed  for 
the  relief  of  the  unfortunate,  I  trust  that  it  will  be  dis 
covered  by  your  discernment,  and  supplied  by  your  wis 
dom. 

"A  frequent  recurrence  to  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  constitution"  is  enjoined  upon  us  by  the  highest 
authority.  At  a  time,  when  factitious  distinctions  in 
society,  arising  from  its  very  refinements,  from  education, 
from  family,  from  social  relations,  and  from  wealth,  are 
multiplying  and  becoming  more  clearly  defined  and  re 
garded,  this  will  be  peculiarly  useful  and  necessary.  An 
advancement  in  civilization,  with  its  virtues  and  refined 
pleasures,  brings  also  its  vices  and  evil  tendencies.  Let 
us  endeavor  to  purify  and  promote  the  former  by  repress 
ing  and  restraining  the  rising  indications  of  the  latter. 

Our  excellent  constitution  itself  contains  some  defects 
and  inconsistencies.  While  in  one  section  it  declares 
that  "  all  men  are  born  free  and^qual,"  and  that  "  the 


371 

body  politic"  is  a  voluntary  "  social  compact,"  to  which 
"  the  whole  people,"  and  "  each  citizen,"  are  parties,  in 
another  it  excludes  a  portion  of  them  from  any  partici 
pation  in  the  election  of  officers,  or  the  making  of  laws. 
He  who  is  governed  by  laws,  in  the  formation  of  which 
he  had  no  voice,  is  in  a  state  of  political  servitude.  To 
make  the  right  of  suffrage  and  civil  liberty  depend  upon 
the  accident  of  property  or  taxation,  seems  to  me  to  be 
inconsistent  with  the  "natural,  essential,  and  unalienable 
rights"  of  man ;  to  place  the  incident  above  the  princi 
pal  ;  and  to  regard  the  fortuitous  and  uncertain  posses 
sions  of  this  life  more  than  moral  and  intellectual  respon 
sibility.  If  the  right  of  self-government,  the  right  of 
suffrage,  be  a  natural  one,  belonging  to  every  rational 
being,  there  can  be  no  just  cause  for  depriving  any  citi 
zen  of  it,  except,  perhaps,  as  a  punishment  for  crime. 
As  the  qualification  of  voters  is  fixed  by  the  constitution, 
this  error,  if  it  be  one,  can  be  fully  remedied  only  by  an 
amendment  of  that  instrument.  The  legislature,  how 
ever,  may  do  much  to  prevent  its  exclusive  operation,  and 
to  relieve  citizens  from  being  disfranchised  by  the  negli 
gence  or  fraud  of  subordinate  town  officers.  Let  the 
poll  tax  be  fixed  so  low  that  any  one  can  easily  pay  it, 
and  let  the  assessors  be  required  to  include  in  their  re 
spective  assessments  every  resident  not  legally  exempted 
from  taxation. 

Some  further  provisions  seem  to  be  needed  to  protect 
the  laboring  classes,  and  the  poorer  portion  of  the  com 
munity,  from  unjust  and  oppressive  influences,  and  to 
secure  to  them  more  perfect  independence  and  freedom 
of  political  action.  It  is  feared  that  men  of  wealth  and 
extensive  business  sometimes  use  the  advantages  which  a 
bountiful  Providence  has  conferred  upon  them,  above 
their  fellow-beings,  to  infringe  the  right  of  choice,  and 
to  control  the  suffrages  of  those  who  may  be  dependent 
upon  them  for  employment,  and  perhaps  subsistence,  but 
who,  according  to  the  principles  of  our  government, 
are  their  political  equals.  The  laborer,  whether  upon 
property  of  his  own  or  of  others,  should  be  the  truly  in 
dependent  man.  He  produces  more  than  he  consumes, 
and  so  far  from  being  indebted  for  his  support,  he  actually 


372  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

creates  wealth.  He  in  reality  is  no  more  dependent 
upon  his  employer  than  his  employer  is  upon  him.  The 
rights  and  obligations  of  the  two  classes  are  reciprocal 
and  equal.  And  yet  the  dependence  of  the  one  upon 
the  other,  although  imaginary,  is  scarcely  less  effective  or 
less  the  means  of  coercion  and  oppression  than  if  it  were 
real.  The  genius  of  liberty  requires  of  every  rational 
soul,  a  free  and  honest  expression  of  his  unbiassed  con 
victions  and  volitions.  And  whoever  would  infringe  this 
right,  and  corrupt,  at  its  source,  the  freedom  of  elections, 
whatever  other  virtues  he  may  possess,  cannot  be  a  real 
friend  of  the  equal  rights  of  man,  nor  a  sincere  supporter 
of  the  true  principles  of  the  government  under  which  he 
lives. 

The  secrecy  of  ballot  which  should  be  inviolable,  is 
frequently  infringed.  The  appropriate  use  of  the  ballot 
is  at  the  polls.  I  fear  its  peculiar  province  is  not  suffi 
ciently  understood  or  regarded.  The  private  voter, 
who,  in  his  original  sovereign  capacity,  is  responsible 
only  to  his  conscience  and  his  God  for  the  discharge  of 
his  political  duties,  has  a  right  to  exercise  their  functions 
in  perfect  secrecy.  But  a  representative  or  agent,  being 
accountable  to  his  constituents,  is  not  entitled  to  the  con 
cealment  of  the  ballot.  The  principals  ought  to  be  in 
formed  how  their  agents  execute  the  authority  conferred 
upon  them,  that  they  may  know  whether  they  are  truly 
represented,  and,  if  not,  that  they  may  call  their  dele 
gates  to  a  strict  account.  It  will  therefore  be  worthy  of 
your  inquiry,  whether  further  legislation  be  not  needed 
to  give  full  and  fair  effect  to  the  popular  voice,  by  ren 
dering  more  secure  the  secrecy  of  ballot. 

There  is  another  fundamental  defect  in  the  "frame  of 
our  government,"  which  calls  for  your  serious  considera 
tion,  arid  which  can  be  remedied  only  by  an  amendment 
of  the  constitution.  The  basis  of  our  senatorial  repre 
sentation  is  an  extraordinary  deviation  from  the  essential 
principles  of  our  government.  It  is  not  easy  to  account 
for  the  introduction  of  this  anomaly.  It  may  be,  that  in 
that  early  age  of  liberty,  the  doctrines  of  popular  govern 
ment  were  not  perfectly  understood,  and  that  some  of  the 
learned  men  of  our  state,  who  had  studied  the  constitu- 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  373 

tions  of  other  governments,  where  "  checks  and  balances" 
were  deemed  necessary  to  limit  and  restrain  the  action 
of  the  people,  were  led  to  believe  that  even  a  democratic 
government  needed  some  kind  of  machinery  to  prevent 
the  too  free  action  and  the  too  full  sway  of  the  popular 
will.  This  basis  is  not  only  incompatible  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  representative  government,  and  of  other  vital 
parts  of  the  constitution,  but  inconsistent  with  itself.  By 
the  last  valuation,  the  city  of  Boston  contained  about 
one  third  of  the  taxable  property  in  the  state.  It  is  not 
improbable,  that  by  the  accumulation  of  capital,  the  en 
terprise  of  its  citizens  and  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  internal  improvements,  it  will  soon  increase  to  one 
half.  Were  the  apportionment  made  upon  the  constitu 
tional  basis,  this  city  would  now  be  entitled  to  one  third, 
and  hereafter,  perhaps,  to  one  half  of  the  senatorial  re 
presentation  :  This  would  give  to  each  qualified  voter  in 
the  city  many  times  the  weight  in  the  election  of  senators, 
which  any  voter  in  other  districts  would  have.  Were 
this  principle  carried  into  practice,  its  injustice  would  be 
so  manifest  that  the  people  would  find  a  remedy  for  the 
evil.  It  would  present  the  spectacle  of  a  city,  contain 
ing  a  few  acres  of  territory,  and  less  than  one  eighth  of 
the  population  of  the  state,  with  a  nominal  valuation,  but 
no  actual  taxation  upon  it,  electing  one  third  or  one  half 
of  the  representation  in  the  upper  branch  of  the  legis 
lature. 

If  this  be  a  provision  of  the  constitution,  why  should 
it  not  be  carried  into  operation  ?  I  know  of  no  consti 
tutional  objection  to  allowing  to  Boston  the  number  of 
senators  to  which,  upon  the  basis  of  taxation,  it  is  enti 
tled.  It  is  true,  the  second  section  of  the  first  chapter 
limits  the  number  of  districts  to  thirteen,  and  prohibits 
the  formation  of  any  district  so  large  as  to  be  entitled  to 
more  than  six  senators.  But  there  is  no  interdiction  of 
the  division  of  counties  or  other  territorial  corporations. 
The  legislature  may  create  two  towns  out  of  one,  to  give 
effect  to  a  legal  apportionment.  But  they  cannot  sever  a 
town,  annexing  one  part  to  one  district  and  the  other  part 
to  another  district.  The  manner  of  calling  and  holding 
town  meetings,  and  of  receiving  and  returning  votes, 
VOL.  ii.  32 


374  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

presents  an  insuperable  obstacle.  But  in  a  city  no  such 
obstacle  exists.  "  The  manner  of  calling  and  holding 
public  meetings,"  and  "  of  returning  the  votes,"  is  not 
prescribed  by  the  constitution,  but  expressly  referred  to 
the  legislature.  They  have  power  to  authorize  the  ward 
officers  to  return  the  votes  to  the  secretary  of  the  com 
monwealth,  as  well  as  to  hold  meetings  and  receive  the 
votes  in  the  respective  wards.  I  cannot  therefore  dis 
cover  any  practical  or  constitutional  objection  to  the  di 
vision  of  Boston,  by  wards,  into  as  many  senatorial  dis 
tricts,  as  may  be  necessary  to  enable  it  to  enjoy  the  repre 
sentation  to  which  by  the  constitution  it  is  entitled.  With 
the  best  lights  which  1  have  been  able  to  derive  from  a 
careful  study  of  the  structure  of  our  government,  and 
from  the  most  mature  deliberation  I  have  been  able  to 
bestow  on  the  subject,  I  cannot  bring  my  mind  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  present  apportionment  is  in  conform 
ity  to  the  true  construction  of  the  constitution.  And 
much  as  I  deprecate  the  principle,  if  it  be  not  repudiated 
by  the  people,  I  can  do  no  less  than  desire  to  have  it 
fairly  executed.  I  have  introduced  this  subject  and  pre 
sented  these  views,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  produce 
some  immediate  action,  favorable  to  a  more  equal  and 
just  principle  of  senatorial  representation. 

Strong  objections  to  the  constitution  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  also  exist.  But  they  spring  from  a  dif 
ferent  source.  The  size  of  that  body  is  a  subject  of 
general  complaint.  While  I  would  retain  a  numerous 
house,  that  it  might  preserve  its  democratic  character, 
and  be  a  full  and  true  representation  of  the  opinions, 
wishes,  wants,  and  interests  of  the  whole  people,  I  can 
not  doubt,  having  regard  to  our  population  and  our  limit 
ed  territory,  that  the  present  number  is  too  large,  and 
that  a  smaller  body  would  be  not  only  less  expensive, 
but  better  adapted  to  deliberation  and  the  transaction  of 
the  public  business.  I  therefore  hope  that  some  mode 
of  representation  will  be  devised,  which  will  be  founded 
on  the  principle  of  equality,  and  reduce  the  House  to  a 
convenient  size. 

In  executing  the  power  vested  in  the  legislature  to 
propose  amendments  to  the  constitution,  the  members  act 


GOV.  MORTON'S  INAUGURAL  SPEECH.  375 

as  the  agents  of  the  people.  And  it  is  their  obvious  duty 
so  to  propose  them,  as  to  give  the  fairest,  the  fullest,  and 
freest  expression  to  the  popular  voice.  Every  proposi 
tion  should  therefore  be  plain,  intelligible,  and  untram- 
meled  by  any  condition  or  connection  with  any  other 
matter.  To  connect  two  amendments,  so  that  they  can 
not  be  voted  upon  separately,  limits  the  citizen's  freedom 
of  action ;  indicates  an  attempt  by  the  agents  to  impose 
restraints  upon  their  principals,  and  manifests  a  want  of 
confidence  in  the  people. 

I  have  not  deemed  it  expedient  to  delay  this  commu 
nication  till  I  should  be  able  to  enter  more  fully  into 
details  of  the  affairs  and  ordinary  business  of  the  com 
monwealth.  These  will  be  communicated  from  time  to 
time,  as  occasion  may  require. 

I  have  now  presented  to  the  two  branches  of  the  legis 
lature  my  views  of  such  important  subjects  as  will  be 
likely  to  engage  and  will  deserve  their  attention.  I  have 
done  it  frankly,  and  from  a  sense  of  duty.  I  have  a 
strong  conviction  of  their  soundness  and  truth.  But  I 
dare  not  hope  that  they  will  receive  the  approbation  of 
all  of  you.  I  only  claim  for  them  that  consideration  and 
that  regard,  to  which  their  weight  and  merits  may  entitle 
them.  And  I  only  ask  for  myself  what  I  most  cheerfully 
concede  to  others, — credit  for  sincerity,  integrity  of  pur 
pose,  and  a  desire  to  serve  and  promote  the  interest, 
prosperity,  and  honor  of  the  commonwealth.  From  an 
honest  difference  of  opinion  I  anticipate  no  want  of  har 
mony  of  action.  Be  assured  that  when  called  upon  to 
revise  your  acts,  I  shall  do  it  \vith  a  high  regard  to  your 
opinions,  and  with  all  the  deference  which  is  due  to  the 
co-ordinate  departments  of  the  government.  And  what 
ever  you  may  do  to  improve  the  condition  or  promote  the 
happiness  of  our  common  constituents,  shall  receive  my 
cordial  approbation. 

MARCUS   MORTON. 


376  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE  DEMOCRATIC  MEMBERS  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF 
NEW  YORK,  TO  THEIR  CONSTITUENTS  AND  TO  THE 
PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  MAY  26,  1841. 

Fellow-Citizens  : 

In  compliance  with  established  usage,  the  undersigned 
before  they  finally  separate,  on  the  adjournment  of  the 
legislature,  deem  it  proper  to  address  you  on  the  subject 
of  the  political  condition  of  our  common  country.  We 
in  all  frankness  say,  that  we  see  nothing  in  the  present 
relative  condition  of  parties,  or  in  the  recent  democratic 
defeat,  to  discourage  the  democracy  of  the  United  States. 
We  believe  that  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  this 
state,  and  of  the  United  States,  are,  and  always  will  be, 
the  champions  of  democracy.  For  it  is  the  principle  of 
democracy  which  does  justice  to  man ;  which  demands 
an  equal  distribution  of  every  social  advantage ;  and  an 
equal  participation  of  every  gift  of  Heaven.  It  is  the 
principle  of  democracy  which  maintains  those  glorious 
truths  "  that  all  men  were  created  equal,"  "  and  that 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  are  ina 
lienable  rights.  It  is  the  principle  of  democracy  which 
proclaims  liberty  to  the  down-trodden  in  every  land ; 
which  exposes  the  abuses  of  misgovernment ;  and  ex 
plodes  ancient  prejudice  and  error.  It  is  the  uncom- 
prising  enemy  of  usurpation  and  oppression  in  every 
form.  This  principle  is  the  basis  of  free  government. 
It  asserts  the  capacity  of  man  to  govern  himself.  It  vin 
dicates  his  intelligence  and  honesty.  It  maintains  his 
imprescriptible  title  to  freedom ;  and  his  right  to  choose 
his  own  form  of  government,  and  to  alter  and  reform  it, 
from  time  to  time  as  his  judgment  shall  dictate.  It 
wages  an  eternal  war  with  tyrants  and  tyranny  ;  with  mo 
narchies  and  aristocracies.  It  condemns  all  special  pri 
vileges ;  it  demands  that  equal  protection  be  extended  to 
all  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  in  their  lawful 
pursuits.  It  inculcates  honor,  virtue,  honesty,  and  inde- 


ADDRESS.  377 

dencc.  It  secures  to  man,  dignity,  prosperity  and  happi 
ness. 

But  it  cannot  be  denied,  that,  although  the  principles 
of  democracy  are  founded  in  truth  and  justice,  and  ele 
vate  the  character,  assert  the  equal  rights,  and  secure  the 
happiness  and  welfare  of  the  masses,  yet  that  in  every 
community  there  is  to  be  found  a  class  of  persons,  the 
few  who  incessantly  labor  to  overthrow  these  principles, 
or  to  limit  their  influence.  It  is  upon  this  class  that  the 
jealous  eye  of  the  democracy  must  be  constantly  fixed. 
Their  machinations  are  ever  directed  against  the  masses  ; 
their  efforts  are  unceasing  to  aggrandize  themselves,  and 
to  encroach  upon  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  people. 
The  past  history  of  our  government,  as  well  as  of  our 
revolutionary  struggle,  shows  that  there  has  always  been 
a  party  in  this  country  whose  object  was  to  engraft  upon 
our  institutions  the  principles  of  aristocracy. 

Many,  who  took  part  in  the  revolutionary  struggle, 
sought  to  establish  an  independent  monarchy  under  the 
name  of  a  republic.  The  elder  Adams  was  of  this  num 
ber.  He  advocated  a  government  after  the  British  model, 
which  should  recognize  three  distinct  orders,  like  the 
king,  lords,  and  commons.  He  insisted  that  there  was 
a  natural  aristocracy  in  society,  composed  of  the  rich, 
the  talented,  and  well-born  :  that  the  most  illustrious  of 
this  class  should  be  placed  by  themselves  in  a  senate.  He 
contended  that  the  distinctions  of  poor  and  rich  were 
necessary  ;  that  "  the  poor  were  destined  to  labor,  and 
the  rich,  by  the  advantages  of  education,  independence, 
and  leisure,  were  qualified  for  superior  stations." 

These  principles  had  their  advocates  in  the  federal 
convention.  They  were  zealously  maintained  by  Alex 
ander  Hamilton  and  Governeur  Morris.  Hamilton  insisted 
there  were  two  orders  in  society ;  one  the  rich  and 
well-born,  and  the  other  the  mass  of  the  people.  That 
"  the  people  were  turbulent  and  changing,"  and  seldom 
determined  right ;  that  the  first  class  should  have  a  dis 
tinct,  permanent  share  in  the  government,  in  order  to 
check  the  unsteadiness  of  the  second,  "  Can,"  he  said, 
"  a  democratic  assembly,  who  annually  revolve  in  the 
mass  of  the  people,  be  supposed  steadily  to  pursue  the 

VOL,  II.  32* 


378  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

public  good?  Nothing  but  a  permanent  body  can  check 
the  imprudence  of  democracy."  Morris  said,  the  senate 
"  must  have  great  personal  property ;  it  must  have 
the  aristocratic  spirit ;  it  must  love  to  lord  it  through 
pride." 

These  distinguished  statesmen  proposed  and  advocated 
a  form  of  government,  which  provided  for  an  executive 
and  senate  for  life ;  an  absolute  veto  in  the  executive 
upon  all  laws  :  which  gave  the  executive  the  sole  ap 
pointment  of  the  heads  of  the  departments,  and  to  the 
general  government  the  appointment  of  governors  of  the 
states,  with  the  power  to  negative  all  state  laws,  and 
which  proposed  to  confer  on  the  general  government  un 
limited  power  in  passing  laws.  This  plan  would  have 
given  us  a  monarchy  instead  of  a  republic.  Fortunately 
for  our  beloved  country,  it  found  no  favor  with  the  con 
vention.  It  was  rejected,  and  the  monarchical  principles 
of  those  who  advocated  it  were  repudiated  by  the  stern 
republicans  of  that  illustrious  body.  These  principles 
and  opinions  of  Adams,  Hamilton,  and  Morris,  were 
founded  upon  a  distrust  of  the  people  ;  upon  a  belief  that 
they  were  incapable  of  self-government ;  and  hence  they 
contended  that  a  strong  government  was  necessary  to 
check  their  imprudence  and  control  their  turbulence. 
These  monarchical  principles  were  the  principles  of  the 
political  friends  of  Adams  and  Hamilton,  who  afterwards 
composed  the  federal  party  ;  a  party  opposed  to  a  popular 
government,  and  all  whose  predilections  were  in  favor  of 
a  government  after  the  British  model. 

Although  the  monarchical  principles  of  Hamilton  were 
overruled  in  the  convention,  they  were  not  discarded  by 
him  or  by  the  party  of  which  he  was  the  head  :  nor  was 
the  design  relinquished  to  engraft  them  upon  our  politi 
cal  institutions.  In  proof  of  this,  we  see  that  immedi 
ately  after  the  organization  of  the  government,  under  the 
auspices  of  Hamilton  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  the 
attempt  was  made  by  him  and  by  the  friends  of  a  strong 
and  splendid  government,  to  arm  it  with  powers  not  in 
tended  to  be  conferred  upon  it ;  and  to  establish  a  sys 
tem  by  which  an  influence  in  Congress  could  be  created 
sufficient  to  counteract  the  will  of  the  people. 


ADDRESS.  379 

The  first  measure  started  to  further  this  scheme  was 
the  assumption  of  the  state  debts,  and  to  fund  them  as 
well  as  the  certificates  of  the  public  debt,  at  par.  This 
was  opposed  upon  the  ground  that  it  was  believed  the 
plan  had  been  devised  and  was  calculated  to  bestow  on 
the  government  "  an  artificial  strength  by  the  creation  of 
a  moneyed  interest  which  would  be  subservient  to  its 
will."  (2  Mar.  Life  of  Wash.  192.) 

The  next  great  engine  of  influence  devised  and  recom 
mended  by  Hamilton,  was  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
Its  incorporation  was  the  first  great  triumph  of  the  aris- 
tocratical  principle  over  the  true  spirit  and  meaning  of  the 
constitution.  It  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Madison  and  others 
in  Congress,  and  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  the  cabinet,  upon 
the  ground  of  its  unconstitutionality.  And  it  led  to  the 
distinct  organization  of  the  two  great  parties,  of  federal 
and  republican,  between  which  there  has  ever  since  been 
going  on  an  incessant  conflict;  the  republican  party 
struggling  to  maintain  and  preserve  the  simplicity  and 
limited  republican  character  of  the  general  government, 
and  the  federal  party  endeavoring  to  clothe  it  with  fear 
ful  power,  not  granted  by  the  constitution,  and  to  devise 
measures  calculated  to  defeat  the  popular  will.  Ever 
since  these  two  great  parties  sprang  into  existence,  they 
have  had  and  now  have  their  respective  diagnostics.  And 
by  these  diagnostics  the  federal  party  can  be  unerringly 
traced  through  every  transformation  it  has  undergone, 
and  detected  under  every  disguise  it  has  assumed.  At 
all  times  it  will  be  found  advocating  the  exercise  of  arbi 
trary  power,  proposing  measures  to  increase  the  power 
and  patronage  of  the  general  government,  and  to  curtail 
the  rights  of  the  states  and  of  the  people.  At  all  times 
it  will  be  found  in  opposition  to  the  extension  of  the  li 
berties  and  privileges  of  the  people,  and  in  support  of 
the  aggrandizement  of  the  few;  ever  suggesting  and 
pushing  schemes  to  benefit  the  aristocracy,  and  to  impo 
verish  the  democracy  ;  to  make  the  rich  richer,  and  the 
poor  poorer  ;  and  never  hesitating  to  employ  either  fraud, 
corruption  or  violence  to  accomplish  their  designs.  In 
adversity,  restless,  active,  vituperative  and  hypocritical. 
In  prosperity,  overbearing,  prescriptive,  and  tyrannical. 


380  THE   TRUE    AMERICAN. 

Not  acquiescing  in  the  declared  will  of  the  people,  and 
repudiating  the  doctrine  of  submission  to  the  will  of  the 
majority,  they  have  never  scrupled  to  counteract  it  at  the 
bidding  of  the  minority.  By  tracing  the  history  of  this 
party  down  from  the  organization  of  the  government,  it 
will  be  found  to  have  maintained  with  undeviating  uni 
formity  this  character.  Its  history  has  been  a  succession 
of  violation  of  the  constitution,  of  outrages  upon  the 
rights  of  the  people,  of  hostility  to  their  interests,  and 
of  steady,  persevering  efforts  to  increase  the  power  and 
privileges  of  the  few.  Thus  we  see  that,  under  the  aus 
pices  of  Hamilton,  the  great  leader  of  the  federal  party, 
the  national  debt  was  funded,  and  a  national  bank  was 
incorporated.  Thus  we  see  that  under  the  federal  ad 
ministration  of  John  Adams,  appropriately  denominated 
"  the  reign  of  terror,"  alien  and  sedition  laws  were  pass 
ed — the  one  aimed  at  personal  liberty,  and  the  other  at 
the  freedom  of  the  press.  Thus  we  see  that  during  this 
administration,  the  expenditures  were  carried  beyond  the 
means  of  the  government ;  that  stamp  and  excise  duties 
were  imposed,  and  loans  resorted  to ;  that  republicans 
were  insulted  in  the  streets  of  the  capital ;  that  their 
peaceable  assemblies  were  violently  broken  up  ;  and  that 
even  armed  forces  were  sent  out  to  destroy  democratic 
liberty  poles.  It  was  the  bold  usurpations  of  this  federal 
administration,  that  roused  the  democracy  of  the  Union 
to  a  powerful  effort  in  defence  of  liberty  and  the  consti 
tution  ;  which  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  the  democratic 
principle,  and  in  the  election  of  Jefferson  as  President  of 
the  United  States. 

After  the  election  of  Jefferson,  the  administration  of 
the  general  government  continued  in  republican  hands, 
until  the  coalition  of  18*24-5  defeated  the  popular  will, 
and  elevated  John  Q,.  Adams  to  the  presidential  chair. 
With  his  accession  to  the  office  of  chief  magistrate  of 
the  Union,  was  revived  the  latitudinarian  doctrines  of 
Hamilton  and  the  early  federalists.  A  gigantic  scheme 
of  internal  improvements,  without  any  limitation  to  such 
as  were  national  in  their  character,  was  then  devised,  in 
opposition  to  the  plain  letter  and  spirit  of  the  constitu 
tion,  and  in  face  of  the  direct  rejection  of  a  proposition 


ADDRESS.  381 

in  the  national  convention  to  authorize  Congress  to  con 
struct  canals.  (3  Mad.  Papers,  1516-7.)  A  scheme 
which,  if  carried  out  to  the  extent  proposed,  would  have 
cost  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The  aristocratic 
and  dangerous  policy  of  this  administration  led  to  a  se 
cond  struggle  between  the  two  great  parties,  which  re 
sulted  in  another  decisive  victory  of  the  democracy. 

The  result  of  this  victory  was  most  propitious  to  the 
welfare  of  the  American  people.  Under  the  administra 
tion  of  Andrew  Jackson,  the  corrupting  and  unconstitu 
tional  system  of  internal  improvements,  devised  under 
the  auspices  of  his  predecessor,  was  arrested,  and  the 
attempt  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  obtain  a  re- 
charter  was  signally  defeated.  For  the  defeat  of  these 
ruinous  measures,  the  country  is  indebted  to  the  uncom 
promising,  fearless  and  persevering  opposition  of  Andrew 
Jackson.  His  Maysville  road  veto  put  an  end  to  the 
internal  improvement  system,  and  his  bank  veto  gave  the 
national  bank  its  quietus.  Other  schemes  analogous  to 
those  advocated  by  the  early  federalists,  were  started  by 
the  modern  federalists  in  Congress  during  the  adminis 
trations  of  General  Jackson  and  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  viz. 
the  distribution  of  the  public  lands  among  the  states,  al 
though  they  were  ceded  as  a  common  fund  for  the  joint 
use  and  benefit  of  the  United  States,  and  for  no  other 
use  or  purpose  whatsoever  ;  a  high  tariff;  the  collection 
of  a  revenue  for  distribution ;  and  an  assumption  of  the 
state  debts.  The  policy  of  the  modern  federalists  is  the 
same  as  that  of  their  prototypes. 

The  party  now  self-styled  whig,  is  the  old  federal  party 
under  a  new  name.  Its  identity  with  that  party  is  proved 
by  the  principles  it  professes.  The  present  whig  party 
advocate  a  national  bank  ;  the  construction  of  internal 
improvements  by  the  general  government  without  limita 
tion  ;  the  collection  of  a  revenue  for  distribution  ;  high 
taxes  by  means  of  a  high  tariff;  distribution  of  the  pub 
lic  domain ;  and  an  assumption  of  the  state  debts.  In 
fine,  they  advocate  the  exercise  by  the  general  govern 
ment  of  every  constructive  power,  advocated  by  the  old 
federal  party ;  and  in  humble  imitation  of  that  party, 
maintain  practically  the  dangerous  doctrine  that  "  a  na- 


382  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

tional  debt  is  a  national  blessing."  They  are  politically 
the  legitimate  and  lineal  descendants  of  the  federalists 
of  the  Adams  and  Hamiltonian  school.  In  many  in 
stances  they  have  improved  upon  the  aristocracy  of  their 
predecessors.  Departing  from  the  sound  and  strict  con 
struction  of  the  constitution,  and  embarking  upon  the 
wide  sea  of  latitudinarianism,  the  construe  the  constitu 
tion  to  mean  any  thing  and  every  thing,  which  expedi 
ency  or  partisan  interests  may  dictate.  No  limit  can  be 
assigned  to  the  enlargement  of  the  powers  of  the  general 
government,  under  the  ancient  federal  and  present  whig 
doctrine  of  construction.  The  amendment  to  the  con 
stitution,  which  reserves  to  the  states  or  to  the  people  all 
powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  consti 
tution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  states,  has  with  these 
federal  and  whig  politicians  become  a  dead  letter.  Every 
new  power  with  which  the  federal  aristocracy  may  desire 
to  fortify  the  general  government,  may  by  their  danger 
ous  doctrine  of  constructive  powers,  be  brought  within 
the  constitutional  authority  of  Congress.  They  have 
only  to  say  that  the  new  power  "  is  necessary  and  proper 
for  carrying  into  execution"  some  enumerated  power, 
(and  the  terms  "  necessary"  and  "  proper"  they  define  to 
mean  expedient,  useful,  or  convenient,)  and  by  their 
mode  of  reasoning  they  prove  that  the  new  power  may 
be  constitutionally  exercised.  In  this  manner  the  federal 
party  maintains  that  a  national  bank  is  constitutional ; 
that  Congress  has  power  to  make  roads  and  canals  ;  to 
distribute  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands 
and  the  public  revenues  among  the  states ;  to  create  a 
high  tariff,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  revenue  for  distri 
bution  ;  to  assume  the  state  debts,  thereby  to  apply  the 
moneys  of  the  whole  people  in  payment  of  the  individual 
debts  of  the  several  states. 

The  inevitable  tendency  of  these  doctrines  is  to  a  pow 
erful,  gigantic,  consolidated  government;  that  species  of 
government  which  John  Adams,  Alexander  Hamilton, 
und  all  the  early  federalists  sought  to  establish.  Unless 
the  power  is  arrested  from  the  hands  which  now  possess 
it,  our  government  will  ere  long,  under  the  malign  rule 
of  the  federal  aristocracy,  cease  to  be  a  government  of 


ADDRESS.  383 

limited  powers;  its  republican  character  will  be  lost; 
and  it  will  give  place  to  the  absolutism  and  corruption 
of  a  monarchy :  we  shall  have  the  arbitrariness  of  the 
British  model,  accompanied  by  its  venality  and  corrup 
tion  ;  we  shall  have  a  centralization  of  all  power  in  the 
federal  head ;  an  overthrow  of  the  state  sovereignties ; 
state  rights  and  the  liberties  of  the  people  will  be  swal 
lowed  up  in  the  great  national  reservoir  of  political  power 
created  by  these  descendants  and  servile  imitators  of  the 
Hamiltonian  federalists. 

The  present  crisis  is  pregnant  with  the  vital  interests 
of  the  American  people.  The  federal  party  having  by 
fraud,  corruption,  deception,  and  misrepresentation,  ob 
tained  the  control  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  are  pre 
paring  to  make  use  of  their  short-lived  supremacy  in 
inflicting  upon  the  people  the  most  dangerous,  as  well 
as  the  most  ruinous,  of  the  ultra  measures  of  ancient 
federalism.  First  in  their  affections,  and  first  in  its 
powers  of  mischief,  stands  the  national  bank.  Twice 
since  1831  has  the  verdict  of  the  American  people  been 
rendered  against  this  dangerous  institution.  In  defiance 
of  this  verdict,  which  stands  unreversed ;  in  defiance  of 
the  determined  hostility  of  a  great  majority  of  the  Ameri 
can  people  to  this  measure  of  the  aristocracy  ;  the  present 
whig  party  are  preparing  to  inflict  this  curse  upon  the 
country.  During  the  recent  election,  the  whigs  refused 
to  submit  the  question  of  a  national  bank  to  the  decision 
of  the  grand  inquest  of  the  people.  But  now,  having  by 
unnatural  and  heterogeneous  alliances,  by  concealment 
of  principles,  by  misrepresentation,  imposition  and  fraud, 
obtained  the  ascendency,  they  do  not  hesitate  to  fasten 
upon  the  country  an  institution  condemned  by  the  peo 
ple,  and  one  which  Jefferson  declared  was  "  of  the  most 
deadly  hostility  existing  against  the  principles  and  form 
of  our  constitution."  And  they  are  preparing  to  commit 
this  great  wrong  with  the  example  of  the  late  Bank  of 
the  United  States  before  their  eyes,  which,  after  waging 
war  against  the  government  and  the  people,  purchasing 
presses  and  men  like  cattle  in  the  market,  making  loans 
to  members  of  Congress,  gambling  in  state  stocks,  specu 
lating  in  cotton,  and  demoralizing  the  community,  at 


884  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

length  lays  prostrate  in  bankruptcy  and  ruin,  the  victim 
of  its  own  abuses.  Nothing  but  the  thunder  tones  of 
indignation  from  an  injured  and  insulted  people  will  save 
them  from  the  dread  calamity  of  the  re-incorporation  of 
a  national  bank.  To  enable  the  party  in  power  to  carry 
out  their  scheme  of  a  national  bank,  it  will  be  necessary 
for  them  to  create  a  stock  of  the  United  States,  to  form 
a  part  of  the  capital  of  the  bank.  To  do  this,  a  national 
debt  must  be  created.  None  now  exists.  The  difficulty 
will  no  doubt  be  obviated  by  an  assumption  of  the  state 
debts.  Here  then  we  shall  have  two  of  the  chief  bless 
ings  of  federalism,  a  national  bank  and  a  national  debt, 
bestowed  upon  us  by  the  whig  party,  into  whose  hands 
the  government  of  the  Union  has  fallen. 

These  are  not  the  only  federal  blessings  of  which  we 
are  likely  to  be  the  victims.  The  good  old  democratic 
notions  of  economy  in  the  public  expenditures,  of  free 
dom  from  debt  and  taxation,  of  the  importance  of  light 
burdens  to  the  happiness,  freedom,  and  prosperity  of  the 
people  are  all  to  be  abandoned.  We  are  to  have  a  high 
tariff,  which  means  high  taxes,  imposed  indirectly  upon 
teas,  coffee,  and  other  great  articles  of  necessity,  adding 
to  their  cost  some  twenty-five  to  thirty  per  cent.,  which 
will  operate  most  oppressively  upon  the  whole  people,  and 
especially  upon  the  poor.  The  public  lands,  the  common 
property  of  the  whole  Union,  are  to  be  divided  among 
the  states,  at  a  time  when  their  proceeds  are  wanted  to 
meet  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  government,  to  extend 
and  repair  our  national  defences,  and  to  sustain  our  army 
and  navy,  and  the  deficiency  in  the  revenue  which  this 
abstraction  will  produce  is  to  be  supplied  by  increasing 
the  duties  on  imports,  and  thus  adding  to  the  burdens  of 
the  people.  The  gigantic  system  of  internal  improvement 
is  to  be  revived  arid  prosecuted  under  the  new  impulse, — 
and  under  the  guidance  of  the  federal  principle  that  a 
national  debt  is  a  national  blessing.  The  tendency  of 
all  these  measures  is  (in  the  language  of  Jefferson)  to  a 
"  consolidation  by  the  federal  government  in  itself  of  all 
power,  foreign  and  domestic  ;  and  that  too  by  construc 
tions,  which,  if  legitimate,  leave  no  limits  to  their  power." 

The  party  now  in  power  also  threaten  to  repeal  the  act 


ADDRESS.  385 

establishing  an  independent  treasury ;  that  great  demo 
cratic  measure  of  Mr.  Van  Bureu,  which  separated  bank 
from  state,  and  divorced  the  money  from  the  political 
power  ;  a  measure  which  reflects  infinite  honor  upon  the 
late  President,  and  has  won  for  him  the  approbation  and 
admiration  of  every  true  republican,  and  of  every  sincere 
lover  of  his  country.  Not  content  to  give  this  measure 
a  fair  experiment,  and  intent  upon  reuniting  bank  and 
state,  and  reviving  the  corrupting  and  demoralizing  in 
fluences  of  that  meretricious  connection,  the  whig  party 
seems  resolved  to  repeal  the  act  establishing  the  indepen 
dent  treasury,  and  to  substitute  in  its  place,  as  the  fiscal 
agent  of  the  government,  an  overshadowing  gigantic  na 
tional  bank. 

As  a  further  proof  of  the  aristocratic  character  of  the 
present  whig  party,  of  their  contempt  of  the  rights  of  the 
people,  and  of  their  innate  hostility  to  free  institutions, 
and  the  principle  upon  which  they  are  founded,  we  may 
refer  to  the  numerous  frauds  and  acts  of  violence  com 
mitted  by  them,  in  order  to  set  aside  the  popular  will, 
and  to  retain  or  acquire  power.  Witness  the  infamous 
determination  of  the  Pennsylvania  whigs  in  1838,  to 
treat  the  election  of  Gov.  Porter  and  of  the  eight  demo 
cratic  members  of  assembly  of  the  county  of  Philadel 
phia,  as  if  it  had  not  happened,  and  to  declare  Gov. 
Ritner  elected.  And  witness  the  unscrupulous  and  trai 
torous  attempt  to  maintain  this  usurpation  by  force  of 
arms.  And  witness  a  similar  attempt  made  by  the  same 
party  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States,  in  December,  1839,  to  admit  to  seats  in  that 
body,  five  whigs  who  had  been  rejected  by  the  people  of 
New  Jersey,  but  who  had,  notwithstanding  that  rejection, 
fraudulently  obtained  from  the  whig  governor  of  that  state 
a  false  certificate  of  their  election.  And  witness  also 
the  fact  that  this  foul  fraud  was  sanctioned  by  the  whig 
majority  of  the  legislature  of  this  state. 

To  these  cases  we  may  add,  that  of  the  importation  of 
fraudulent  voters  from  Philadelphia  to  the  city  of  New 
York,  in  the  fall  of  1838,  by  which  means,  one  senator, 
four  members  of  Congress,  and  thirteen  members  of  as 
sembly  were  elected.  In  this  nefarious  transaction,  men 
VOL.  ii.  33 


386  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

high  in  the  ranks  of  the  whig  party  were  deeply  implica 
ted.  And  the  infamous  agents  employed  in  that  traitor 
ous  conspiracy  against  our  free  institutions  arid  the  rights 
of  the  elective  franchise,  have  ever  since  been  patronized 
and  sustained  by  the  whig  party,  and  one  of  the  most 
prominent  of  their  number  has  recently  been  rewarded 
by  a  responsible  office  under  the  general  government. 
Are  these  not  conclusive  evidences  that  the  whig  party 
entertain  all  the  contempt  of  the  ancient  federalists,  for 
the  rights  and  the  will  of  the  people, — and  that  the  de 
sign  of  their  leaders  is,  to  engraft  upon  our  form  of  go 
vernment  the  features  of  the  admired  British  model,  and 
to  introduce  into  our  elections  the  corruption  and  venali 
ty  which  disgrace  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise 
in  England?  Let  them  be  successful,  and  our  freedom 
will  exist  only  in  name.  An  aristocracy  of  wealth  will 
rule  the  now  free  and  indomitable  democracy  of  this  re 
public  with  a  rod  of  iron.  Debt  and  taxation  will  be 
their  portion.  They  will  be  reduced  to  the  lamentable 
condition  of  the  English  people  ;  doomed  to  be  the  hew 
ers  of  wood  and  the  drawers  of  water  for  a  purse-proud 
aristocracy  ;  doomed  to  the  slavery  of  toiling  sixteen 
hours  every  day,  and  of  paying  one  third  of  all  their 
earnings  towards  the  support  of  the  government  which 
enslaves  them.  There  are  other  and  conclusive  proofs 
of  the  hostility  of  the  whig  party  to  the  rights  of  the 
people.  Witness  their  uniform  and  pertinacious  opposi 
tion  to  the  extension  of  the  right  of  suffrage ;  their  per 
severing  and  untiring  advocacy  of  the  property  qualifi 
cation  of  electors.  Look  into  the  New  York  convention 
of  1821,  and  see  the  earnest,  zealous,  energetic  efforts 
of  all  the  leading  federalists  in  that  body,  to  retain  this 
odious,  aristocratic  feature  olT  th§  old  constitution.  See 
how  truly  the  parties  ranged  on  that  question  ;  the  de 
mocracy,  with  Van  Burcn  at  its  head,  on  one  side,  break 
ing  the  shackles  thrown  around  the  people,  and  boldly 
and  honestly  contending  for  the  extension  of  the  right 
of  suffrage  to  every  man  "  who  either  fights  or  pays." 
And  aristocratic  federalism,  on  the  other,  obstinately  re 
sisting  the  surrender  to  the  people  of  this  great  right,  of 
which  they  had  been  despoiled. 


ADDRESS.  387 

Within  the  limits  of  our  own  state,  we  have  witnessed 
for  the  last  two  years,  exhibitions  of  the  fell  spirit  of 
federalism,  which  equal,  if  they  do  not  transcend  in 
atrocity,  any  that  disgraced  the  reign  of  terror.  In  the 
fall  of  1837,  the  empire  state  fell  into  the  arms  of  fede 
ralism.  The  first  result  of  this  unfortunate  event  was  a 
revolution  in  the  financial  policy  of  the  state.  Before 
that  period,  the  state  finances  had  been  wisely,  prudently, 
and  safely  managed.  The  expenditures  had  not  been 
allowed  to  exceed  the  income.  Debts  had  not  been 
contracted  except  when  warranted  by  the  means -on  hand, 
or  by  the  unquestionable  and  unquestioned  ascertained 
revenues  of  the  state.  Under  the  democratic  policy, 
taxation  would  never  have  inflicted  its  terrific  burdens 
upon  the  people.  But  when  the  whigs  took  possession 
of  the  Assembly  in  183S,  a  new  light  was  shed  upon  the 
financial  policy  of  the  state.  It  was  then  for  the  first 
time  discovered  that  New  York  had  not.  broken  her  shell 
in  her  internal  improvement  policy.  That  the  democracy 
were  behind  the  intelligence  of  the  age.  They  had 
been  blind  to  the  beauties  and  blessings  of  the  credit 
system.  They  had  never  revelled  in  the  luxury  of  a  great- 
state  debt.  The  three  great  rail-road  lines  of  Gov. 
Seward  had  neither  been  projected  nor  constructed.  The 
policy  of  the  more  speedy  enlargement  of  the  Erie  ca 
nal  had  not  been  adopted.  With  the  accession  of  fede 
ralism  to  the  house  of  Assembly,  commenced  a  new 
era — the  era  of  extravagance,  of  profligacy,  of  reckless 
expenditure,  and  of  the  foundation  of  a  great  state  debt. 
One  distinguished  whig  leader  reported  that  the  canal 
revenues  would  warrant  the  creation  of  an  additional 
debt  of  40  millions  in  ten  years.  Another  whig  leader 
reported  a  bill  for  completing  the  enlargement  of  the 
Erie  canal  in  five  years — which  bill  passed  the  Assembly 
with  the  further  provision  appropriating  four  millions  of 
dollars  to  that  object.  Under  this  new  impulse,  the  poli 
cy  of  the  more  speedy  enlargement  was  adopted.  And 
it  has  ever  since  been  pertinaciously  persevered  in,  in 
despite  of  the  uniform  opposition  of  the  republican  mem 
bers  of  the  legislature.  The  direct  state  debt,  including 
the  appropriation  of  this  year,  already  exceeds  20  mil- 


388  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

lions  of  dollars,  and  including  loans  made  and  authorized 
to  be  made  to  rail-roads,  it  exceeds  25  millions.  The 
aggregate  state  debt,  when  the  works  now  in  progress 
shall  be  finished,  will  exceed  40  millions.  And  when 
all  the  deferred  but  surveyed  rail-roads,  canals,  exten 
sions  and  enlargement?  which  have  been  recommended 
by  Gov.  Seward,  or  have  found  favor  with  the  whig 
party,  shall  be  completed,  the  debt  will  range  above  70 
millions  of  dollars.  The  tendency  of  this  reckless  ex 
travagance  is  to  onerous  and  ruinous  taxation,  which 
will  "take  from  the  mouth  of  labor,  the  bread  it  has 
earned." 

All  the  leading  measures  of  the  federal  dynasty  which 
now  sways  the  destinies  of  this  state,  exhibit  a  degree 
of  intolerance,  hostility  to  popular  rights,  and  constitu 
tional  violations,  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  our  coun 
try.  The  first  act  of  these  federal  patriots  after  they 
obtained  possession  of  the  government,  was  a  universal 
seizure  of  the  spoils  of  office.  When  in  the  minority 
they  denounced,  with  the  bitterest  invective,  the  doctrine 
that  "  to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils ;"  and  declared 
that  that  principle  was  fit  only  for  robbers.  But  as  soon 
as  they  found  themselves  in  the  majority,  this  principle 
was  no  longer  repudiated,  but  became  the  most  promi 
nent  in  their  political  creed.  Universal  and  indiscrimi 
nate  proscription  was  then  their  rule  of  action.  Every 
democratic  incumbent,  of  the  lowest  as  well  as  of  the 
highest  office,  within  reach  of  the  appointing  power, 
was  instantly  removed.  Not  content  with  seizing  ex 
isting  offices,  as  rewards  for  rabid  partisans,  new  ones 
were  created  to  supply  the  cormorant  demands  of  this 
mercenary  corps,  who  fought  not  for  principle,  but  for 
pelf. 

The  legislation  of  the  present  party  in  power  has  not 
been  honestly  directed  to  the  advancement  of  the  public 
good,  but  has  been  prostituted  to  the  promotion  of  politi 
cal  objects.  A  great  portion  of  the  legislative  session 
of  1840  was  occupied  in  the  discussion  and  adoption  of 
political  resolutions.  It  was  deemed  important  by  the 
whig  leaders  to  appease  the  spirit  of  abolitionism ;  hence 
resolutions  satisfactory  to  the  abolition  portion  of  the 


ADDRESS.  389 

whig  party,  were  introduced  and  adopted ;  and  hence  a 
law  was  passed,  intended  to  prevent  the  delivery  of  fugi 
tive  slaves  to  their  owners,  in  direct  violation  of  an  ex 
press  provision  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 
It  was  deemed  necessary  by  these  exclusive  friends  of 
the  people,  to  throw  a  tub  to  conservatism,  and  to  furnish 
a  ray  of  hope  that  the  bubble  of  credit  and  speculation 
would  again  be  inflated,  to  enable  the  patriotic  conser 
vatives  to  sell  out  their  lithographed  cities ;  hence  reso 
lutions  condemning  the  independent  treasury,  and  to  di 
vide  the  public  lands  among  the  states  were  presented 
and  adopted.  Something  also  was  deemed  necessary  to 
be  done,  to  gratify  the  federal  aristocracy,  by  way  of  a 
renewed  expression  of  their  sovereign  contempt  of  the 
rights  and  will  of  the  people;  hence  the  introduction  and 
passage  of  the  resolutions  approbating  and  sanctioning 
the  infamous  New  Jersey  fraud,  by  which  it  was  attempt 
ed  to  annul  the  popular  vote  of  that  state,  and  to  thrust 
upon  Congress  members  rejected  by  the  people.  But  the 
crowning  act  of  hostility  to  and  disregard  of  the  rights 
of  the  democracy,  was  the  law  requiring  a  registration 
of  the  voters  in  the  city  of  New  York.  This  law  was 
inflicted  upon  that  city  as  a  punishment  for  its  indomita 
ble  democracy.  It  was  intended  to  disfranchise  the 
laboring  classes  by  environing  the  exercise  of  the  right 
of  suffrage  with  difficulties  and  expenses,  so  numerous 
and  onerous,  as  effectually  to  deprive  them  of  that  great 
prerogative  of  freemen,  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  con 
stitution.  It  was  a  law  which  rode  over  and  rode  down 
the  constitution,  and  was  aimed  at  that  honest  class  of 
the  empire  city  who  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their 
faces,  and  especially  at  the  great  body  of  our  indepen 
dent  and  liberty-loving  naturalized  citizens,  who  have 
fled  to  the  bosom  of  our  republic  as  a  refuge  from  the 
political  persecutions  and  tyranny  of  the  old  world.  But 
thanks  to  the  unpurchaseable  democracy  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  this  despotic  and  unconstitutional  exercise 
of  power  by  the  federal  aristocracy  has  only  served  to 
stimulate  them  to  increased  exertion.  Thrice  have  they 
spoke  since  the  passage  of  this  odious  law,  and  thrice  has 
the  present  dynasty  been  rebuked. 
VOL,  ii.  33* 


390  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

During  the  present  session  of  the  legislature,  the  whig 
dynasty  have  appeared  "  to  lord  it  through  pride."  They 
have  gone  beyond  the  examples  of  their  federal  prede 
cessors.  They  have  even  improved  upon  the  Hamil- 
tonian  aristocracy.  Until  1841,  the  judicial  bench  and 
the  military  department  had  never  been  desecrated  by 
the  hand  of  political  proscription.  Judges  and  military 
officers  had  always  been  permitted  to  hold  their  offices 
through  all  political  changes,  until  the  terms  for  which 
they  were  appointed  had  expired.  But  a  new  policy  has 
now  been  adopted.  The  bench  and  the  militia  are  no 
longer  secure  from  executive  proscription,  although  pro 
tected  by  the  aegis  of  the  constitution.  The  judge  is 
hereafter  to  be  dragged  from  the  bench,  and  the  military 
officer  is  to  be  removed  at  executive  bidding,  to  make 
room  for  the  political  friends  of  the  appointing  power. 

The  removal  of  Robert  H.  Morris  from  the  office  of 
recorder  of  the  city  of  New  York  was  one  of  the  greatest 
outrages  ever  perpetrated  by  any  party,  since  the  organi 
zation  of  our  government.  Under  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution  he  held  his  office  for  five  years,  and  could 
only  be  removed  by  the  senate  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  governor,  for  causes  to  be  stated  in  such  recom 
mendation.  The  governor  recommended  his  removal, 
and  assigned  as  causes  therefor,  that  he  repaired  to  the 
house  of  a  citizen  and  demanded  and  obtained  a  package 
of  papers  proved  to  relate  to  a  complaint  for  subornation 
of  perjury,  pending  before  him,  against  James  B.  Glent- 
worth,  committed  in  importing  gangs  of  fraudulent  voters 
to  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the 
elections  in  that  city  in  the  fall  of  1838  and  spring  of  1839, 
in  favor  of  the  whig  party  ;  and  that  the  recorder  justified 
such  demand  and  obtaining  of  the  papers,  to  the  grand 
jury.  For  these  causes  the  senate,  in  accordance  with 
the  recommendation  of  the  governor,  removed  the  re 
corder  from  office.  Thus  was  an  independent  and  up 
right  judicial  officer  removed,  for  an  honest  and  fearless 
discharge  of  his  duty  as  a  magistrate.  He  was  vigorously 
engaged  in  probing  certain  atrocious  frauds  proved  to 
have  been  committed  against  the  elective  franchise ; 
frauds  which  implicated  high  whig  leaders,  the  political 


ADDRESS.  391 

friends  of  the  executive.  In  the  midst  of  the  discharge 
of  this  great  duty,  he  was  arrested  by  the  executive  arm, 
and,  with  the  assent  of  a  subservient  senate,  was  removed 
from  office.  This  atrocious  act  of  proscription  was 
committed  to  punish  a  fearless  and  upright  judge  for  the 
energetic  discharge  of  his  duty,  and  to  screen  political 
partisans  from  exposure,  punishment,  and  disgrace. 

The  removal  of  Q,uarter-master-general  Campbell  P. 
White,  and  Pay-master-general  Prosper  M.  Wetmore, 
was  similar  in  character  to  the  removal  of  Recorder 
Morris.  The  tenure  of  their  office  was  entirely  inde 
pendent  of  the  governor.  They  held  them  during  good 
behavior,  and  could  only  be  removed  by  the  senate,  on 
the  recommendation  of  the  governor,  stating  the  grounds 
on  which  the  removal  was  recommended.  The  governor 
assigned  two  grounds  as  causes  of  removal.  The  one 
was  untrue  in  fact,  and  both  were  puerile  and  frivolous. 
None  were  so  blind  as  not  to  see  that  the  removal  had  its 
origin  in  political  considerations  alone,  and  that  the 
grounds  assigned  by  the  governor  were  mere  pretences 
to  cover  up  the  real  causes  that  prompted  it.  Each  of 
these  removals  was  a  palpable  infraction  of  the  constitu 
tion  ;  and  the  ignominy  of  the  act  was  sought  to  be 
covered  up  by  the  assignment  of  flimsy  pretences  as  rea 
sons,  which  the  dimmest  vision  could  penetrate. 

The  removal  of  Judges  Scott  and  Scheiffelin  of  the 
marine  court  of  the  city  of  New  York,  without  assigning 
any  cause  therefor,  or  giving  them  a  hearing  or  an  oppor 
tunity  of  defence,  was  another  act  of  arbitrary  power 
and  of  executive  usurpation,  which  tends  to  exhibit  the 
true  character  of  the  present  reckless  and  intolerant 
dynasty. 

All  these  acts  of  removal  stand  out  in  conspicuous 
prominency  as  outrages  which  call  down  upon  the  present 
administration  the  execration  of  the  good  and  the  just  of 
all  parties.  This  administration  is  becoming  a  by-word 
and  proverb  in  the  land.  Its  prominent  characteristics 
are  its  political  proscription  and  its  habitual  violations  of 
the  constitution.  The  inquiry  is  already  anxiously  made, 
— When  will  its  malign  rule  end?  These  repeated  acts 


392  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

of  arbitrary  power,  these  reckless  violations  of  the  con 
stitution,  will  accelerate  that  desirable  event. 

The  preservation  of  the  constitution,  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  and  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  whole 
country,  are  now  at  stake.  The  present  crisis  is  big 
with  the  destinies  of  this  country.  Its  indomitable  and 
incorruptible  democracy  must  rouse  itself  like  a  strong 
man  after  sleep,  and  put  forth  its  mighty  strength.  The 
great  body  of  the  people  compose  that  democracy.  Let 
that  portion  of  it  which  has  wandered  from  the  republican 
path  "  in  moments  of  error  or  alarm,"  "  hasten  to  retrace 
their  steps,  and  to  regain  the  road  which  alone  leads  to 
peace,  liberty,  and  safety."  The  federal  aristocracy, 
.which  now  rule  the  Union  and  the  empire  state,  are  pre 
paring  shackles  for  the  American  democracy.  They  are 
conspiring  to  aggregate  power  in  the  few,  and  withdraw 
it  from  the  many.  They  are  plotting  to  create  a  great 
national  as  well  as  state  debt,  and  an  overshadowing  na 
tional  bank,  and  hope  through  their  joint  agency  to  sub 
jugate  the  people.  The  whig  members  of  the  present 
house  of  Assembly  have  voted  down  a  proposition  for 
amending  the  constitution,  so  as  to  require  every  law  for 
borrowing  money  for  ordinary  purposes,  to  be  submitted 
to  the  ratification  of  the  people  before  their  faith  and 
property  shall  be  pledged  for  its  payment.  They  thus 
appear  to  have  resolved  to  fasten  a  great  state  debt  upon 
the  people,  and  to  mortgage  the  land  and  the  labor  of  the 
present  and  future  generations  for  the  payment  of  the 
principal  and  interest,  without  giving  the  people  an  op 
portunity  to  say  whether  they  are  willing  to  be  mortgaged 
to  the  fund-holders,  and  to  be  taxed  for  money  to  be 
loaned  to  rail-ro'ad  and  other  corporations. 

So  wedded  are  the  party  in  power  to  a  national  bank, 
and  so  strong  are  now  their  hopes  to  fasten  it  upon  the 
American  people,  that  the  whig  majority  of  the  senate 
have  been  willing  to  expose  themselves  to  public  obloquy 
and  contempt,  by  adopting  a  resolution  instructing  Mr. 
Wright  to  use  his  endeavors  to  procure  the  passage  of  a 
law  for  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank,  while  they 
themselves  scout  the  doctrine  of  instructions,  and  deny 
all  obligation  to  obey  them. 


ADDRESS.  393 

The  circumstances  of  the  defeat  or  failure  of  one  of 
the  most  important  of  the  public  measures  of  the  session, 
furnish  a  further  illustration  of  the  character  of  parties, 
and  exhibit  the  readiness  with  which  the  democratic 
party,  in  legislation  as  in  political  action,  adheres  to  the 
great  principle  of  justice  and  equality.  We  allude  to 
the  general  election  law.  That  bill  was  one  of  a  very 
valuable  character.  It  was  of  great  length,  and  had  been 
elaborated  with  unusual  care  and  pains  by  the  assembly. 
It  contained  a  general  revision  of  the  election  laws  of 
the  state,  into  which  it  introduced  the  important  reforms 
of  confining  elections  to  one  day,  and  of  dividing  the 
towns  and  wards  into  small  election  districts,  of  about 
five  hundred  voters  each.  In  these  respects,  its  operation 
was,  however,  ^confined  to  towns  and  villages,  and  did  not 
include  the  cities  of  the  state,  in  relation  to  which  a  dif 
ferent  bill  was  introduced  into  the  senate.  The  senate 
bill  was  a  general  registry  law  for  the  other  cities,  simi 
lar  to  that  which  has  been  found  so  odious,  oppressive, 
and  expensive  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  included, 
also,  provisions  for  districting  the  cities,  and  for  holding 
the  elections  in  them  in  one  day.  The  assembly  bill  was 
first  acted  upon  ;  and  it  passed  that  body  near  the  close 
of  the  session,  by  the  votes  of  the  democratic  members 
then  constituting  its  majority,  embracing  a  provision  re 
pealing  "  all  existing  provisions  of  law  requiring  a  regis 
tration  of  voters  in  any  single  city  of  this  state,  as  a  spe 
cial  exception  to  the  general  laws  applicable  to  the  other 
cities  and  large  villages  thereof."  Thus  placing  New 
York  upon  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  other  cities  of 
the  state,  whether,  through  the  passage  of  the  senate  bill, 
it  should  be  subjected,  along  with  them,  to  the  burden 
of  registration,  or  with  them,  be  exempt  from  the  inflic 
tion.  In  this  shape  it  was  sent  to  the  senate.  Shortly 
after,  the  senate  bill  having  passed  that  body,  came  to 
the  assembly,  from  whence,  shorn  of  its  registration  fea 
tures,  it  was  returned  to  the  senate,  was  concurred  in 
by  that  body,  and  became  a  law.  A  different  fate  await 
ed  the  general  election  law  of  the  house.  In  the  senate, 
it  was  amended  by  striking  out  the  provision  in  rela 
tion  to  the  registry  for  the  city  of  New  York.  The  as- 


394  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

sembly  having  refused  its  concurrence  in  the  senate's 
amendment,  that  body  voted  again,  by  a  strict  party  divi 
sion,  to  adhere  to  its  amendment,  notwithstanding  the  ef 
forts  of  democratic  senators  to  induce  the  majority  to 
recede;  and  the  bill  was  lost.  Thus  the  political  major 
ity  of  the  senate,  after  having  yielded  the  registration 
principle,  to  obtain  the  "  one  day,"  and  the  "  districting" 
principles  for  the  cities,  turned  round,  and  reversing  its 
action,  sacrificed  the  latter  valuable  principles  of  reform, 
together  with  all  the  other  important  provisions  of  the 
law  as  applied  to  the  state  at  large,  for  the  sake  of  con 
tinuing  to  enforce  its  former  detestable  oppression  on  the 
city  of  New  York,  against  the  well-known  and  abun 
dantly  manifested  opposition  of  a  decisive  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  of  that  city.  Under  such  aspects,  the 
question  will  go  to  the  people.  In  their  hands  we  are 
content  to  leave  it — believing  that  the  honest  and  upright 
democracy  of  the  state  would  infinitely  prefer  to  forego 
for  a  year  the  enjoyment  of  the  benefits  of  the  pending 
law,  rather  than  disgrace  itself  by  abandoning  that  prin 
ciple  of  just  uniformity  and  equality,  which,  at  all  times, 
and  especially  in  relation  to  the  exercise  of  the  elective 
franchise,  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  all  honest  Legislation 
to  maintain. 

With  the  present  administration  and  the  present  whig 
legislature,  the  advancement  of  political  objects  appears 
to  be  the  great  end  of  all  their  official  and  personal  la 
bors.  Their  motto  is — the  end  will  justify  the  means. 
The  history  of  the  last  presidential  election  demonstrates 
that  the  whig  party  are  as  unscrupulous  in  morals  as  they 
are  anti-republican  in  principle.  The  presidential  can 
didate  of  the  democracy  was  defeated  by  means  of  a  re 
gular  system  of  fraud  and  misrepresentation  deliberately 
concocted  at  Washington,  and  systematically  carried  out 
in  all  parts  of  the  Union.  The  democracy  were  by  these 
means  defrauded  of  their  votes.  Mr.  Van  Buren  fell  a 
martyr  to  his  principles.  He  was  more  honored  in  his 
defeat,  than  his  competitor  was  in  his  victory.  Mr.  Van 
Buren's  principles  were  proclaimed  to  the  American  peo 
ple.  He  fearlessly  avowed  them  to  the  last.  They  were 
the  principles  of  the  democracy.  And  he  carries  with 


ADDRESS,  395 

him  into  private  life  the  esteem,  the  respect,  and  admira 
tion  of  his  countrymen.  He  will  ever  be  regarded  as  a 
patriot  and  a  statesman,  and  he  will  take  his  rank  with 
the  most  illustrious  of  his  country's  sons. 

A  high  and  imperious  duty  devolves  upon  the  demo 
cracy  to  assert  their  rights,  and  to  drive  from  place  and 
power  the  unscrupulous  party  which  now  corruptly  and 
tyrannically  sway  the  destinies  of  this  state.  Their  liber 
ty  and  happiness,  the  prosperity  of  their  country,  loudly 
call  upon  them  to  put  forth  their  best  energies  to  achieve 
this  great  deliverance.  To  accomplish  it,  they  must  in 
culcate  unceasingly  the  principles  of  democracy — they 
must  press  upon  the  minds  of  the  old  and  the  young,  the 
great  fundamental  principle  upon  which  all  the  others  re 
pose,  "  the  equality  of  men  in  civil  and  political  rights." 
That  all  legislation  which  disturbs  this  equality  is  anti- 
republican.  That  grants  of  special  privileges  to  one 
man,  or  to  any  set  of  men,  are  attacks  upon  the  rights 
of  every  other  man  in  the  community.  That  a  good 
government  is  that  which  restrains  men  from  injuring 
one  another,  but  "leaves  them  otherwise  free  to  regulate 
their  own  pursuits  of  industry  and  improvement,"  and 
which  does  "  not  take  from  the  mouth  of  labor  the  bread 
it  has  earned."  That  debts,  individual,  state  and  nation 
al,  produce  a  condition  of  dependence  subversive  of 
equality  among  men,  and  destructive  of  freedom  of  action 
among  states  and  nations.  That  the  following  are 
among  the  essential  principles  of  our  government : — 
"  Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  of  whatever  state  or 
persuasion,  religious  or  political ;"  "economy  in  the  pub 
lic  expense,  that  labor  may  be  lightly  burdened;"  the 
honest  payment  of  our  debts,  and  sacred  preservation  of 
the  public  faith  ;  "  the  diffusion  of  information  and  ar 
raignment  of  all  abuses  at  the  bar  of  public  reason." 

Democratic  republicans  !  we  call  upon  you  to  stand  by 
your  arms;  to  redouble  your  exertions.  We  conjure 
you  to  use  as  your  weapons  truth  and  justice;  to  diffuse 
information  ;  to  expose  the  designs  of  the  federal  aristo 
cracy  ;  to  press  upon  the  people  the  startling  fact,  that  if 
the  whig  party  continue  in  power,  their  lands  and  labor 
will  be  mortgaged  for  the  payment  of  a  forty  and  perhaps 


396  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

a  seventy  million  debt ;  that  grinding  taxation  will  be 
their  inevitable  fate  ;  and  that  a  great  national  bank  will 
be  fastened  upon  the  country.  If  every  democrat  does 
his  duty,  the  "days  of  federalism  in  the  empire  state  will 
be  numbered,  and  democracy  will  achieve  a  triumph 
which  will  be  perpetual. 


DEMOCRACY. 

[AN    EXTRACT.] 

DEMOCRACY  must  finally  triumph  in  human  reason, 
because  its  foundations  are  deep  in  the  human  heart. 
The  great  mass,  whose  souls  are  bound  by  a  strong,  pa 
ternal  sympathy,  once  relieved  from  ancient  prejudice, 
will  stand  forth  as  its  moveless  champions.  It  fastens  the 
affections  of  men,  as  the  shield  of  their  present  liberties 
and  the  ground  of  their  future  hopes.  They  perceive  in 
it  a  saving  faith,  a  redeeming  truth,  a  regenerating  pow 
er.  It  is  the  only  creed  which  does  justice  to  man,  or 
that  can  bind  the  entire  race  in  eternal  chains  of  bro 
therhood  and  love.  Nothing  sinks  so  deep  into  the 
hearts  of  the  multitude,  for  nothing  else  is  so  identified 
with  their  moral  and  social  good.  Though  the  high  and 
mighty  of  the  earth  may  deride  its  simple  truths,  these 
are  willing  to  die  in  their  defence.  Those  truths  are 
blended  too  closely  with  all  for  which  it  is  worthy  to  live 
and  glorious  to  perish,  to  be  relinquished  without  a  strug 
gle  or  a  pang. 

They  are  too  firmly  allied  to  the  imperishable  hopes, 
the  deathless  aspirations,  the  onward  triumphant  march 
of  humanity,  ever  to  be  deserted.  The  fortunes  of  indi 
viduals  may  change,  empires  be  born  and  blotted  out, 
kings  rise  and  fall — wealth,  honor,  distinction  fade  as 
the  dying  pageant  of  a  dream ;  but  democracy  must  live. 
Its  origin  is  among  the  necessary  relations  of  things,  and 
it  can  onlv  cease  to  be  when  eternal  truth  is  no  more. 


DEMOCRACY.  397 

It  is  the  principle  of  this  democracy  we  wish  to  unfold. 
Our  design  is  to  expound  in  our  own  way  its  nature,  ten 
dency,  beauty,  and  end.  We  are  drawn  to  it  by  strong 
cords,  and  cannot  but  explain  the  grounds  of  our  love. 
There  is  a  clear  region  of  philosophic  inquiry  above  the 
clouds  of  party  strife.  To  procure  exemption  from  com 
mon  errors  and  ordinary  modes  of  thought,  one  must 
breathe  its  pure  and  wholesome  air.  He  must  retire 
from  the  din  of  daily  warfare ;  he  must  live  in  the  calm 
study  of  his  own  soul  in  the  silent  observation  of  man. 
Freedom  from  prejudice  is  the  indispensable  condition  of 
free  thought.  In  the  sacred  depths  of  retirement  the  soul 
alone  is  free — for  there  it  roams  gladly  over  the  universe 
— communes  with  its  own  deep  experience — consults  the 
sublime  spirits  of  the  past.  We  speak,  therefore,  not  to 
parties,  but  to  men.  The  interests  of  party  fluctuate  like 
the  ceaseless  flowings  of  the  sea,  while  the  interests  of 
humanity  are  as  permanent  and  eternal  as  the  hills.  Yet 
if  there  be  associations  of  men  which  above  others  recog 
nize  the  principles  we  maintain;  if  there  be  a  party, 
how  obscure  or  dejected  soever,  which  holds  the  truths 
we  hold,  as  the  distinctive  ground  of  their  political  faith, 
as  the  badge  of  their  paternity,  we  hail  them  as  brothers 
— extend  the  right  hand  of  fellowship — unite  with  them 
in  the  great  cause. 

Democracy,  in  its  true  sense,  is  the  last  best  revelation 
of  human  thought.  We  speak,  of  course,  of  that  true 
and  genuine  democracy  whose  essence  is  justice,  and 
whose  object  is  human  progress.  We  have  no  sympathy 
with  much  that  usurps  the  name,  that  monstrous  mis- 
growth  of  faction  and  fraud.  The  object  of  our  worship 
is  different  from  these,  the  present  offering  is  made  to  a 
spirit  which  asserts  a  virtuous  freedom  of  act  and  thought, 
which  insists  on  the  rights  of  men,  demands  the  equal 
diffusion  of  every  social  advantage,  asks  the  impartial 
participation  of  every  gift  of  God,  sympathizes  with  the 
down  trodden,  rejoices  in  their  elevation,  and  proclaims 
to  the  world  the  sovereignty,  not  of  the  people  barely, 
but  of  immutable  justice  and  truth. 

The  subject,  in  every  aspect  it  may  be  regarded,  is 
obviously  important.  It  involves  questions  of  the  highest 
VOL.  u.  34 


398  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

moment.  The  condition  of  society  is  modified  by  every 
change  in  this  doctrine  of  rights.  No  other  doctrine 
exerts  a  mightier  power  over  the  weal  or  woe  of  the 
whole  human  race.  In  times  which  are  gone,  it  has 
been  the  moving  spring  of  revolutions — has  aroused  the 
ferocious  energies  of  oppressed  nations — has  sounded 
into  the  ears  of  despots  the  fearful  meanings  of  coming 
storms — has  crimsoned  fields  of  blood — has  numbered 
troops  of  martyrs — has  accelerated  the  downfall  of  em 
pires — has  moved  the  foundations  of  mighty  thrones. 
Even  now,  millions  of  imprisoned  spirits  await  its  march 
with  anxious  solicitude  and  hope.  It  must  go  forth,  like 
a  bright  angel  of  God,  to  unbar  the  prison  doors,  to 
succor  the  needy,  heal  the  sick,  relieve  the  distressed, 
and  pour  a  flood  of  light  and  love  into  the  darkened 
intellects  and  dreary  hearts  of  the  sons  of  men. 

Man  has  rights.  He  has  a  right  to  expand  and  invi 
gorate  every  mental  power,  to  cultivate  every  mental 
gift,  to  lay  up  knowledge  in  stores,  to  investigate  every 
science,  to  comprehend  all  arts.  Who  shall  restrain 
thought  in  its  free  passage  over  the  broad  universe — who 
shall  clip  the  restless  wings  of  imagination,  or  imprison 
the  giant  energies  of  the  will?  Man  has  the  right  to 
think ;  not  only  to  think,  but  to  utter.  Thank  heaven, 
no  chains  can  bind  the  viewless  thought — no  tyranny  can 
reach  the  immaterial  mind. 

Whatever  his  mind,  in  the  wide  circuit  of  its  musings, 
may  conceive,  his  mouth,  in  the  presence  of  the  world, 
may  speak ;  what  his  noble  spirit  feels,  he  has  the  right 
to  express.  He  may  send  forth  his  "truths  of  power  in 
words  immortal ;"  he  may  seek  to  convince  and  persuade 
his  fellow-rnen  ;  to  make  known  his  convictions ;  to  de 
clare  his  aspirations;  to  unfold  the  truth;  to  discover 
new  relations  of  thought ;  to  promulge  novel  doctrine, 
to  question  error ;  and,  if  he  be  able,  to  move  men  to 
wards  a  triumphant  assault  on  evil  institutions  and  corrupt 
laws.  As  a  moral  being,  he  has  a  right  to  decide  on  the 
duties  of  the  sphere  in  which  he  is  placed;  he  has  the 
right  to  indulge  the  tenderest  as  well  as  the  loftiest  sensi 
bilities  of  the  heart ;  to  sigh  with  the  sorrowful ;  to  com 
miserate  the  oppressed,  and  to  weep  the  bitter  tears  of  a 


DEMOCRACY.  399 

broken  heart  over  misplaced  confidence.  He  has  the 
right  to  nourish  the  sense  of  duty,  the  power  of  endur 
ing ;  the  energies  of  self-command;  to  conquer  passion 
with  manly  force ;  to  throw  back  temptation  with  lusty 
arm  ;  to  resist  the  myriad  fascinations  of  deceitful  life 
with  iron  heart  and  iron  will.  He  has  the  right  to  act 
according  to  that  conscience  which  his  God  has  given ; 
to  oppose  vice,  though  millions  swell  the  ranks  of  its 
worshippers ;  to  espouse  and  uphold  truth,  despised  as  it 
may  be.  These  rights  of  man  belong  to  him  as  man; 
they  are  neither  gifts,  or  grants,  or  privileges,  but  rights. 
He  traces  them  to  no  concessions  granted  in  the  pleni 
tude  of  aristocratic  generosity,  but  to  a  higher  source, 
the  God  of  his  spirit,  the  Creator  of  the  worlds.  They 
belong  to  man  as  an  individual,  and  are  higher  than 
human  laws.  The  charter  on  which  they  depend  was 
drawn  from  the  skies,  and  bears  the  signet  and  stamp  of 
heaven. 

To  fetter  the  freedom  of  man  is  not  only  to  act  the 
part  of  tyranny,  but  to  inflict  a  gross  wrong,  to  outrage 
a  high  gift,  to  trample  on  a  creation  of  God. 

The  rights  and  happiness  of  the  many  will  prevail. 
Democracy  must  finally  reign.  There  is  in  man  an  eter 
nal  principle  of  progress  which  no  power  on  earth  may 
resist.  Every  custom,  law,  science,  or  religion,  which 
obstructs  its  course,  will  fall  as  leaves  before  the  wind. 
Already  it  has  done  much,  but  will  do  more.  The  des 
potism  of  force,  the  absolutism  of  religion,  the  feudalism 
of  wealth,  it  has  laid  on  the  crimson  field  ;  while  the 
principle,  alive,  unwounded,  vigorous,  is  still  battling 
against  nobility  and  privilege  with  unrelaxing  strength. 
It  is  contending  for  the  extinction  of  tyranny,  for  the 
abolition  of  prerogative,  for  the  reform  of  abuse,  for 
the  destruction  of  monopoly,  for  the  establishment  of 
justice,  for  the  elevation  of  the  masses,  for  the  progress 
of  humanity,  and  for  the  dignity  and  worth  of  the  indi 
vidual  man.  In  this  great  work  it  has  a  mighty  and 
efficient  aid.  Christianity,  self-purified  and  self-invigo 
rated,  is  its  natural  ally.  Christianity  struck  the  first 
blow  at  the  vitals  of  unjust  power.  The  annunciations 
of  its  lofty  Teacher  embodied  truths  after  which  the 


400  THE    TRUE    AMERICAN. 

nations  in  their  dim  twilight  had  long  struggled  in  vain. 
They  were  addressed  to  the  deepest  and  holiest  aspira 
tions  of  the  soul.  They  kindled  in  humanity  the  dormant 
consciousness  of  its  native  worth,  imparted  to  it  the 
sense  of  undying  strength,  and  shed  around  it  the  light 
of  a  glorious  destiny.  These  potent  doctrines  were  the 
inherent  dignity,  the  natural  equality,  the  spiritual  rights, 
the  glorious  hopes  of  man,  removing  the  obstructions  of 
heaped-up  falsehood  and  fraud ;  they  speak  to  oppressed, 
down-trodden  man.  They  cherish  the  sense  of  personal 
worth ;  they  strengthen  faith  in  truth ;  they  reveal  the 
highest  excellence;  they  demand  unceasing  progress, 
they  worship  the  soul  as  of  higher  importance  than  all 
outward  worlds.  The  movement  of  man,  then,  must  be 
onward.  The  virtue  of  earth,  and  holiness  of  heaven, 
are  pledged  to  his  support.  May  God  hasten  the  day  of 
his  complete  final  success.  Then  will  the  downcast  look 
up,  then  will  the  earth  be  glad,  then  will  a  broad  shout 
of  rejoicing  break  through  the  concave  of  heaven,  and 
be  echoed  back  from  the  thrones  on  high. 


YB  37710 


M317156 


